Royals assistant lauds team after victory
Reading assistant manager Kevin Keen was complimentary of another impressive Royals’ performance away at Colchester United, as they took a 1-0 win after extra time thanks to Chris Gunter’s goal.The key positive was securing passage to the second round of the Capital One Cup, but in addition there were a number of other plus-points for the side.
“It was a really pleasing result in the end especially as the game went on it was a little bit of a war of attrition,” said Keen. “But as the game went on we started to break down their defence and eventually we got there with a really good goal from Chris Gunter.
“Chris is an incredible athlete in getting up and down the pitch, and it was great watching him in pre-season. There have been two or three over pre-season like Nick Blackman tonight it was a fantastic shift from him.
“We played some really good football and showed some good passing, and we kept a clean-sheet tonight. It was Ali Al-Habsi’s full debut as well, and it was terrific for Anton Ferdinand to come through a full 120 minutes after he’s had a tough year. It’s not just that he did the minutes, but also produced that he produced a top-quality defensive performance and shepherded the defence really well.
“We showed good character – it’s difficult to come to places like Colchester where they are organised and athletic and they had a real go for their manager. It was a tough ask, especially once it goes to extra time, but it was great for the squad to come through and get a first win on board for the season.”