JAAP Stam has accused his players of taking their foot off the gas in the second half despite a thumping 3-0 victory over Championship rivals Burton Albion.

First-half goals from Dominic Samuel and Danny Williams plus a second-half own goal by John Brayford gave Stam's men a fourth straight league win and clean sheet, moving Reading up to third in the table.

But Royals' boss Stam said it was not quite the perfect performance from his players, insisting they should have done better in the second half.

“It’s quite frustrating sometimes from the touchline," asserted Stam.

"When you play like we did in the fist half, for the first couple of minutes we were still searching for what we wanted to do.

“After a couple of minutes in the first half we controlled the game, we dominated the game and we created chances, we went forward when we needed to but kept possession as well.

“We scored two great goals in the first half and I am very happy about that. We wanted to do the same thing but we knew they would be trying to get that goal.

“I think we didn’t play the second half as well as we could, I don’t know if the players thought they could take it easy because they were two up.

“I’ve told them they need to be on their toes for the full 95 minutes, they need to be sharp and they need to be aggressive because they want to be scoring goals not conceding them.

“We didn’t play as well in the second half, we eventually scored the third one and then we could relax as we knew we would win. I’m happy with the performance the result and the work rate.

“We played a different system but we are always looking at how we can hurt the opposition.

“I’ve told them if we are doing well then we can play 3-3-4."

Fans have been calling for Samuel to start for the Royals for weeks on end, and their cries were finally answered today.

Samuel replied with a well taken first-half finish, and the manager was quick to praise the young centre-forward.

“He’s a good player, he’s talented, he had a couple of loan spells," concluded Stam.

"In our system we are always looking for that balance.

“He’s back fit now and if there is space and especially with his pace then he is a threat for everybody. He helps us out going forward.

“He’s done well, he’s scored and he’s worked very hard. Im very happy with his performance.”

Reading take on Bristol City at the Madejski Stadium next Saturday.