Brian McDermott was absolutely delighted with his team after seeing them put in maximum effort to earn a dramatic and deserved 2-1 injury time win at home to Plymouth.

Shane Long was our matchwinner with two goals, drilling home a stoppage time spot kick after having opened the scoring with an excellent finish early in the second period.

In truth there were heroes all over the pitch, and special mentions should go to sub Hal Robson-Kanu for winning the penalty and also Zurab Khizanishvili for an excellent defensive display on his first start for Royals.

Brian said, "That was the toughest game I've been involved in since taking charge, but I thought we deserved to win.

"In the first half we were the better side but just didn't quite do enough. We got the goal in the second half, it was a wonderful finish from Shane, but then they equalised and it was difficult to take but you've got to get over it.

"Importantly, the crowd stayed with us right to the end, Hal Robson-Kanu came on, he showed great skill to get away from the centre half and it was a penalty, I've seen it again and Shane put it away really well, he was ice cool.

"We've taken nine points from the last nine and a lot of teams are looking over their shoulder now. Of all the games I've been involved in, Plymouth away was the one when they really beat us up, so this was a massive game."

Long now has four goals in three starts and five overall in his last seven games, so the 23-year-old Irishman is deservedly drawing praise. "He's fit, he's looking after himself and he's confident. We're seeing the player we knew we could. He's winning his headers and we're really, really pleased for him because he's a great guy.

"Only one guy was going to take the penalty, he was quickest to the ball, picked it up and was really confident he would score, he has been practising them. He deserves it all, he's worked so hard in the last few weeks."

Robson-Kanu made an equally important contribution from the bench, and especially considering it was his first appearance in six weeks he showed great positivity and commitment to the cause. Brian said, "I thought he made a difference, certainly with the penalty. It was great skill, great pace and power and I was delighted for him.

"He could have gone out on loan and I've said to him if you're not getting the chance, you can go out and play. But he's committed to Reading, he's told me that he wants to still be around and he wants to have his chance and if he gets it, he says he'll take it."

Another important Royal on the night was Khizanishvili, who looked very composed and but for Long's heroics would surely have taken man of the match honours. Brian commented, "He did some really, really good things. He brought the ball down on his chest once or twice, played some really good balls and I was delighted for him, you could see he's a quality player."

Brian is very much enjoying life at Madejski Stadium, and is unbeaten in his five fixtures at home. He is keen to keep that sequence going, saying, "If we'd won our home games last season we'd have gone up, that's the key. As a player I loved playing at home, and as a manager I love being here.

"It won't always go for you at home but we try to play on the front foot and at 1-1 both teams had a real go. We've scored late against Burnley, Liverpool and now Plymouth, that is no coincidence. It's just keeping the faith. The key is to stay with us because we will try to win games."

Finally, Brian is not concerned that we have not moved up the table, and a number of teams are very much bunching up toward the foot of the Coca-Cola Championship table. "It's not important, the only thing is the next game. Now we move on to West Brom and we can't wait.

A full post-match video interview with Brian is available now on our online TV station Reading FC Player.