Royals boss Mark Bowen said that Reading’s victory over Birmingham City was due to his players ‘heart, guts and determination’. 

Reading made it consecutive triumphs in the league, despite falling behind to a goal from Scott Hogan in the first half. 

Reading looked a different side in the second half and were soon level courtesy of a stunning finish from Matt Miazga. 

Yakou Meite then put Bowen’s men ahead with a well-taken header, before Pele composed himself to curl beyond Grant in the Birmingham goal late on to make the points safe for Reading.  

Speaking after the game, Bowen praised the response of his players to a frustrating first half performance. 

“We say all the right things about needing to star fast, but today we were nowhere near it.

“We weren't doing the right things.

"Special mention to Michael Olise who was the one player in the first half who wanted the ball and wanted to play.

“We just were not there. We talked about what we needed to try and do in the second half.

“If we got the next goal we knew we'd back in it.

"I felt as soon as we got that from Matt, I felt we would go on and win the game.

“I didn't think we were fantastic in the second half and in the last 10 minutes if our passing was right we could have had three or four more. 

“That result was built on heart, guts and determination after the week we've had with extra time. 

“We went through two hours on Tuesday and kept going right until the end and put the shift.” 

Bowen clarified the reason for a lack of striking options on the bench, confirming that Baldock missed out on selection with a slight calf issue.

“Sam Baldock has a slight calf strain and I thought long and hard about bringing Loader in and Aluko too. 

“But, coming to a place like St Andrew's, we needed to be strong at the back so that's why I had an extra defender [on the bench]”