Paul Ince praised his players after Reading defeated Millwall in a hard-fought victory at The Den.
A Naby Sarr debut goal was enough to separate the sides, and also take the Royals to top-spot in the Championship.
Of the position, he said: “It’s great that the fans can say that. We struggled to stay in the league last year and I think the fans, who came in their droves to support us, never envisaged that after six games we would be top of the table so give them that and let them enjoy the moment.
“Hopefully it lasts a long time but that’s something for them for the support that they have given us over the last six months. It’s a tough place to come to and we thoroughly deserved to win the game.
The away side spurned two golden chances to put the game to bed with Jeff Hendrick and Shane Long missing second-half one-on-ones.
“I said to the lads after that I was disappointed, we didn’t put the game to bed – that was a lesson learnt,” he explained.
“As well as I’m happy with the performance, I’m disappointed we didn’t put the game to bed. You win 2-0/3-0 win, you all sit back.
What happens is the last five to 10 minutes they throw balls into our box, which could go anywhere, and it’s a lottery then. You could come away 1-1 which would be devastating as we deserved to win the game.
“They’re clean-cut chances, you can’t miss them. Jeff’s one is at a time where you think we’re a bit under the cosh, not because Millwall are cutting through us but because of the way Millwall play.”
Naby Sarr’s long-awaited signing was only confirmed on Friday morning after George Puscas completed his loan move to Italian outfit Genoa.
“We’ve all been waiting to get this deal done and he’s been really frustrated. To be fair to Naby, he’s been patient so when I got the news that it was all done, I was over the moon as I had earmarked the game for him with the way Millwall play.
“Match fitness is different to training fitness. This is his first game for us, and he was exceptional.”
