After Tuesday night's 1-0 home victory over Bradford City, the Royals continued where they left off against Millwall at the Madejski Stadium. Yet another clean sheet and our fifth win from the last seven league games - this latest win takes Reading over half way to survival with only a third of the season played. With performances like this there's more likely to be crazy talk of play-offs rather than consideration of a return to Division Two. Millwall finished fourth last season in this Division - yet looked an inferior side to the Royals today - we've all seen enough proof now that Reading truly are a Division One side.

It was the same formula again today - a five man midfield and a four man defence with just Nicky Forster up front. And it worked, as Reading severely restricted Millwall throughout the game - particularly in the first half. The midfield game might not create a massive number of chances but it certainly prevents the opposition getting even close to scoring - which explains why Reading have the best defensive record in the entire division. Millwall couldn't manage a single shot on target during the entire first half - on the other hand Reading carved out at least three excellent opportunities to score during the opening 45 minutes. It was clear as anything that Reading really wanted to win this one today - every player worked really hard and we chased down every ball. There appears to be massive confidence across the side at the moment, and there's no doubt we're working well as a team unit. Pardew deserves massive credit for how the side is shaping up and his record so far must make him one of Reading's most successful managers in the history of the club. Long may it continue.

Salako has been a bit out of form recently leading to questions over his inclusion in the starting eleven. It was appropriate enough to start him on the bench today and give a start on the pitch for Nathan Tyson. The formation meant Reading had Tyson and Harper playing on the wings - and both players had good games despite the fact that we didn't make massive use of playing the ball wide. Tyson looked a little inexperienced at times and sometimes tried to take the ball past players and ended up losing out when perhaps he should have played a simple ball - but there was more than enough on display from him to indicate he has a big part to play in the squad this season. Harper really stood out today - some excellent running, some great tackles in midfield and the ability to deliver some superb passes.

Reading's first goal provided a good summary of the input of Harper and Forster to the game as Reading worked the ball out from midfield with Harper supplying an excellent cross from the right. The ball was perfect - clearing the goal keeper who failed to get to the ball as he jumped, and finding Forster steaming in at the far post. Under a bit of presure from a defender Forster stuck his head on it and powered it into the back of the net putting Reading ahead after just six minutes of play. Millwall were forced to make an early substitution just before the goal and they seemed to be unable to find their pattern with Reading enjoying a lot of the ball and closing down players at speed. We seemed to be playing a little bit further forward than we did against Bradford - but again relied on Forster to come up with the goods. Forster had two good chances that nearly found the net. One saw him create a shooting chance from nearly nothing forcing the keeper to tip the ball onto the crossbar and over. Another saw their keeper race out of his area to leave an empty net - Forster's long range effort curved wide at the last moment when it seemed certain to make it 2-0.

Perhaps the biggest criticism of Reading today was the way we seemed to sit on the lead throughout the entire second half. The formation didn't really lend itself to the creating of a whole load of goals but it seemed clear we needed to get one to kill Millwall off - and it didn't look likely to happen. After a fruitless first half for the visitors they got more and more into the game as the second half progressed and enjoyed the majority of the possession. Reading gave the ball away a bit too easily - but thankfully made up for it with some superb tackling and chasing players down that stopped Millwall being able to play it around as much as they'd hoped. Reading's packed defence restricted Millwall to just a couple of efforts, and Upson's dominance in the air must have frustrated them no end. The combination of Williams and Upson seemed nearly unbeatable - there's no dout Williams' game has improved dramatically playing alongside the Arsenal loanee.

Reading looked solid despite Millwall's increasing pressure but there was always that worrying feeling we could chuck it away towards the end. Hahnemann was well protected - but when he was called on he did well to claim a few dangerous crosses and corners into the box. There was the odd goal mouth scramble where we hacked the ball away and we expected a nervous finish. Thankfully the game will killed off as the game ticked over into injury time. Millwall's frustration boiled over into a couple of late tackles and they were lucky to escape with a couple of bookings. However one of the resulting free-kicks saw a well worked move from the right of the area and the ball played to Andy Hughes who drove in a powerful low shot from well outside the box that ended up in the bottom left corner of the net. It was a typical Hughesy goal from long range that was followed up with a typical Hughesy celebration with a dance around the corner flag. So, 2-0 to the Royals and massive relief.

The Millwall fans had all disappeared by the time the final whistle blew, while the Reading fans stayed to applaud another great team performance. Mark McGhee once again suffered at the hands of the Royals - despite his aspirations to manage a club much bigger than Reading his current side are substantially below the Royals in the table. I doubt he's a happy man tonight.
Graham

Following report from John Wells:
Another clean sheet, another three points, and a another convincing and thoroughly professional performance. There can be few Reading fans that would not have walked away from this game without feeling satisfied with the result and the entertainment that this game provided. There were passages of scrappy play, and Millwall in their typically abrasive style caused a few scares late in the game, but on the whole Reading again played the better football and created more clear cut chances than their opponents.

The return of Mark McGhee and Millwall was clearly going to give this game a bit of an edge. Before the kick off as Reading went into their huddle the visitors gathered in the centre circle and glared intimidatingly at them. A pathetic gesture. The opening exchanges were robust at times but the referee was a lenient at but fairly consistent and the game which had the potential to flare up never reached boiling point. After five minutes Warner in the Millwall goal completely misjudged the flight of a harmless looking Harper cross allowing Forster to nip in and head into and empty net. Reading dominated the opening fifteen minutes and the football was fast, exciting and very entertaining to watch.

Millwall gradually eased their way back into the game but I felt Reading were still very much in control even though they probably could have kept possession better on the break with more careful passing. The Royals back four dealt comfortably with the Millwall attack and Shorey in particular looked very composed when playing himself out of trouble.

Just before half time Forster could have notched another hat trick but this time he was unlucky with two great efforts rather than careless as he had been on Tuesday against Bradford. Four minutes before half time Warner came out to clear and Forster found himself about forty yards out with and empty net in front of him. It needed to be hit early and he struck well but the ball flew wide of the upright. Then right on the stroke of half time he got on the end of a Hughes cross only to see Warner fingertip his header onto the bar.

The second half was scrappy from the outset with both sides finding it hard to string passes together. Tyson, who had made some promising runs and an appetite for defensive duties, was replaced by Salako. It seemed a sensible decision to bring on someone with experience at that stage of the game.

Millwall mounted a bit of pressure towards the end, but didn't really create and clear cut chances or serious attempts on goal. Wise, acting true to character, started trying to wind everybody up with verbal abuse and, in Newman's case, a bit of off the ball argy bargy. Nobody took the bait and which made his efforts look even more pathetic.

The Millwall back four had been having communication problems resulting in embarrassing mix-ups throughout the game but they saved the best for last. As Reading prepared to take a free kick just outside the area, my attention was taken by a Millwall centre back having an animated discussion about the defensive position taken up by one of his midfield colleagues. The defender was urging him to move upfield as his team mate pointed at the unmarked Hughes on the edge of the box. Meanwhile the ball was slipped to Hughes who settled the argument by driving the ball cleanly into the bottom corner of the net. One for Mark and the boys to chat about on the bus home - that and the need to get out of the relegation zone!

My season ticket is looking good value for money so far. What pleasure it is to see how well the team plays without the pressure of expectation. Mind you the way things are going that won't last - everyone I know is starting to count how many points we need to get into the play-off positions.