Opposition view: Hunt felt Reading were 'really good' in win over Cobblers

The home side shaded a relatively even first half and had more shots and chances, though the best opportunity fell to Ethan Wheatley at the other end when he was denied by smart work by Royals goalkeeper Jack Stevens.

The second half continued in a similar vein and it was Reading who struck the decisive blow through Kelvin Ehibhatiomhan, who headed in Paddy Lane's 65th minute cross, as Cobblers struggled to generate goalscoring opportunities.

"It’s a big win and I thought we were really good," said Hunt. "We created most of the chances and I thought we controlled the game for large spells. We nullified their threats and defended really well. We deserved to win the game.

"The message at half-time was to keep doing what we are doing and we will break them down. They are a tough team, they play a back five and they have loads of bodies in the box. To find the yard of space is hard sometimes but I felt that when we scored, we could have scored another couple. How we managed the game and saw it out, it was a mature performance.

"Tonight was a big game for us. We’ve been beaten twice in nine and in the last two or three performances, we probably didn’t get what we deserved. We did tonight and we have to build on it. We want to climb the table as fast as we can. It’s not going to be easy, and every game is hard, but if we put our front foot forward, are brave and aggressive in our play, we will hopefully get the right result on Saturday."