Stam: How we unpicked Wigan

A brace from Garath McCleary inside the opening five minutes gave the Royals a foothold in the game they never relinquished.

And a second-half penalty from Danny Williams, after Max Power had pulled down John Swift, completed an impressive afternoon’s work from the promotion chasers.

“We spoke about what we can expect, with a new manager in, how they want to play, probably press us high up, don’t give us time to play out from the back,” revealed Stam.

“The pace we have up front, we knew we could be a threat in behind if we do it well, if the runs are at the right time.

“We started doing that immediately and scored two early goals.

“You want to make it easy for yourself.

“After that sometimes we got a bit sloppy in how we wanted to play.

“You don’t want to give goals away because it gives them confidence.

“How we played, how we defended, how we created chances, we did that very well, and we deserved that win.”

Reading are now up to fourth place in the Championship table, and Stam is not daunted by talk of a sustained promotion push.

“You’ve never know how it’s going,” he added. “We’re always looking for continuity in the team and getting results.

“Up until now, if you look at it from the start of pre-season we’re doing quite okay, getting results as well.

“In sense of getting results, everybody’s very focused in doing that, but I’ve said it’s not the most important thing for us.

“You want to win every game, but the style of play, the movement we need to have in the team to make it difficult, that’s what we’re working on, day in, day out.

“With the work-rate we put in, and with the quality we have, then you get results.

“That’s what’s happening for us the last couple of months.”