WITH two wins in a week, some would say as a fan I couldn’t be happier. However, with two wins came two red cards.

A 2-1 victory at Brighton in the ELF Cup on Tuesday and the same scoreline at Barnsley on Saturday was marred by the sendings-off of Tyler Blackett and Garath McCleary.

McCleary was given a red card shortly after scoring for shoving Barnsley captain Conor Hourihane.

While red cards are never welcome, it does show Jaap Stam has added some aggression and passion into the team which was so desperately lacking under previous managers.

Team performances where players don’t seem interested are now a thing of the past. We fire on all cylinders for the full 90 minutes under Stam, rather than just the last 15 previously.

This was emphasised when Blackett received a red for a rash challenge on Brighton’s Sebastien Pocognoli.

Tyler may have displayed a lack of composure, but it also shows our players are hungry for results.

Against Brighton, we didn’t have as much possession fans have become used to.

But before the sending off, we were dominating the game and thoroughly deserved the lead from Stephen Quinn’s vicious volley.

As always, a red card changed the complexion and a lot of hard work and defensive play was required – something Stam’s team aren’t used to doing this season.

Goalkeeper Anssi Jaakola impressed deputising for Ali Al-Habsi with a few important saves.

Quinn gave yet another solid display meaning Stam has a midfield selection headache ahead of Saturday’s home fixture against top of the league Huddersfield.

This past week has proved Reading are a completely new team under Stam.

Brian McDermott’s side last year looked slow and lethargic. Now we look revitalised, hungry and firing on all cylinders Our summer signings have impressed, especially John Swift, Luke Moore and Joey van den Berg.

I’m most certainly looking forward to Saturday against the Terriers and then a feisty trip down the M4 to Brentford on Tuesday night.

Things look good and long may it continue.

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