MATCHWINNER Roy Beerens admitted Reading FC were put under severe pressure by 10-man Huddersfield Town before scraping a 1-0 victory at Madejski Stadium.

Beerens netted his first Championship goal of the season with a defelcted 41st-minute strike to extend Royals' unbeaten run to eight in all competitions.

And a fourth win in five Championship matches has fired Jaap Stam's men up to fourth in the table.

But ex-Hertha Berlin winger Beerens accepts Reading were far from their best on the day, despite playing for more than an hour against 10 men following Rajiv van la Parra's 26th minute red card.

David Wagner's Terriers were a threat throughout the second half despite their numerical disadvantage.

But they failed to find the net as they slipped to a defeat which cost them top spot in the Championship table.

Beerens confessed: "Normally when you come out of the dressing room and you have one more player for the second half you expect to create a lot of chances and play much better than we did.

"We didn't play well. I don't know why, we will have to see the video clips, but we didn't do well in the second half.

"In the previous two games against Barnsley and Brighton when we had 10 men we did a very good job.

"This time our opponents had 10 men and they played very well too.

"We have to do better than that, but the main thing is to think about the result."

Referee James Linington booked van la Parra twice in four first-half minutes, the first for a foul on Jordan Obita and the second for dissent.

But Beerens accepted Royals struggled to make the most of their extra man.

"Everyone expects you to score three, four or five goals but there are no easy games in this league," stressed the Dutchman.

"Even when you play against 10 men it is difficult and tough.

"Huddersfield are a decent team with good players. They were unlucky with the red card, which was good for us.

"They will have a good season because they are hard to beat."