Manager Brian McDermott was rightly delighted with his team's 1-0 win over QPR, and praised his team for showing mental toughness and character to fight until the very end.
Gylfi Sigurdsson won and superbly converted an 85th minute penalty to give us three deserved points, and the visitors were unable to get out of their own half from the 44th minute onwards once defender Damion Stewart had been sent off for his second yellow card.
We had two efforts cleared off the line and did everything we could in search of a winner - and with time ticking away our Icelandic top scorer worked his magic to seal the win.
Brian said, "Those people in our dressing room just kept going and kept going and I am very proud of them. It wasn't the most beautiful game and it wasn't one for the purists, but we needed to get the result and we did that, that's what it was all about.
"We couldn't have done that four or five months ago and I was so proud of the players. They kept going, it's never easy against ten men. Neil Warnock sets his team up in a way that makes it difficult but we got our just rewards in the end. That was hard work, everyone earned their money and it was a fantastic result.
"We kept on trying to win the game, we got two strikers on, we were trying to get the ball wide and get crosses in.
"I've said it before but it's not easy to get at ten men and sometimes you just have to hang in there. Ten men can drop very deep, it's difficult to get in behind. You try to play in front and it can be a bit slow so you have to pick the tempo up. The pitch was difficult at times and you just need a break, you have to keep going. They were looking for 0-0 with ten men and we were looking to win.
"They cleared two or three off the line but I still thought that something would happen, I kept believing. We've proven we can win games, no matter how late. I thought it was a really good game, two honest sides and a genuine bunch of players having a real go."
Sigurdsson was clearly clipped by defender Matt Hill inside the area, and Brian said, "I thought it was [clear cut.] That was a fantastic penalty from Gylfi and no goalkeeper in the world would have saved that. You look at his penalties, he's rolled them in the corner, smashed others."
Lastly, Brian was asked Matt Mills' reaction toward a section of our supporters, saying, "The crowd were a little bit frustrated and we were all getting a little bit edgy at times - when you play against a resilient side like QPR it's never going to be easy to break them down. I've asked Matt to hit some diagonal balls and he's hit some fantastic ones, and one that hasn't come off.
"He's got a little bit frustrated, we don't want to see that but toward the end they shouted his name and I was pleased with that. It's a passionate game, Matt Mills is passionate, our crowd are passionate, I'm passionate and we want to win games. We've had eight wins out of nine and he's been involved in every single one, he's been outstanding.
"We've got a fantastic camaraderie between the players and fans and we want to keep that going. Matt has been inspirational at the back and he was terrific again tonight, but we was disappointed and frustrated like everyone.
"We need the crowd, we need them to keep onside, especially 0-0 at home against ten men. If we keep going together as one we'll get results like we did tonight.
"We've beaten really tough opposition and it's another win. Anything else is not for tonight."
This victory has moved Reading up to 14th in the Coca-Cola Championship and Brian remains unbeaten at Madejski Stadium in the League since taking over. We have won our last six League games at home, and eight in our last nine league fixtures, making us the Championship's form team.
A full post-match video interview with Brian is available now on our online TV station Reading FC Player. Sign up for a free 14-day free trial today!
