Last night, Bristol City came out on top when they travelled down the M4 to Reading, coming away with a 1-0 victory against their playoff rivals.

Attacking midfielder Jamie Paterson got the crucial goal for the visitors, slotting in first-time from Niclas Eliasson's pass after the Swedish winger had charged down the right wing onto a loose ball.

The result sees Bristol City move back into the playoff spots as Lee Johnson will now try and use the last few days of the transfer market to boost his squad.

Here, we take a look at the three things we learned about Bristol City after their win against Reading...

Need to close down more in midfield

Too often during the game, Reading were able to pick up the pockets of space in midfield that they shouldn't have been able to.

Jamie Paterson, Josh Brownhill and Korey Smith gave the home side too much respect, and should have been quicker at closing down the man in possession to prevent Reading from having too much of the ball.

Thankfully for them, the Royals were unable to do anything with it in the midfield area, but a stronger opponent may be able to make them pay if the Robins did the same against them.

Can do the dirty work

The Robins fought tooth and nail for their win away at Reading, with bodies being thrown on the line during the second half to preserve the slender lead.

Test your knowledge of Bristol City with this quiz - Can you get 12 out of 12?

One particular moment from the second half came when Famara Diedhiou, Nathan Baker and Ashley Williams all defended goalbound shots in the space of 10 seconds, as Reading failed to find a way through.

City defended their 18-yard line superbly, and they won every first and second ball when Reading started to go a bit more direct to try and seek an equaliser.

Paterson is influential to the team

Being used in a midfield three alongside Brownhill and Smith, the attacking midfielder has been like a man reborn after being recalled from his loan spell at Derby County last month.

The midfield stuck his foot in when in close proximity to the man on the ball, and his ability to retain possession was second to none on the pitch as he kept things ticking over.

He also got the only goal of the night, breaking in beyond the striker to latch onto a pass from Eliasson and he kept his composure to take the chance.

Paterson is taking his chance, as he makes his claim to be one of the first names on the team sheet.