Reading won for the first time in six games courtesy of a 2-1 win over struggling Bolton Wanderers, who fell to the foot of the table following an eighth defeat of the season. 

Bolton started strongly with three good chances to take the lead but were denied by Reading keeper Ali Al-Habsi, who made some terrific stops to keep the scores level.

Reading then took the lead in the 28th minute as Chelsea loanee Lucas Piazon pounced on a mistake at the back, and dinked the ball over keeper Ben Amos to open the scoring.

Six minutes later, Danny Williams won the ball back and charged goalwards, firing it into the bottom corner from a fair distance to double the scores, and give the Royals a two goal cushion.

Ten minutes into the second half, Bolton striker Shola Ameobi struck the crossbar with a header.

They eventually got their goal with ten minutes remaining, after Oliver Norwood committed a foul in the box, and Liam Feeney fired home the resulting penalty.

This made for a nervy final ten minutes for the home side, but after launching the ball forward a number of times, Neil Lennon's men didn't manage an equaliser, giving Reading a much-needed win.

FootballLeagueWorld writer Charlie Firth identifies three things we learned from yesterday's encounter...

1) Reading need to keep faith in Steve Clarke

It seems the entire world is aware of the palaver down at Reading this week, as manager Steve Clarke looked set to join Fulham, but decided to stay with Reading.

This lead to an enormous debate between the Royals faithful as to whether Clarke was now the right man for the job, and whether he'd shown enormous disloyalty to the club in just going to speak to Fulham.

Though he still needs to win fans back, he did himself a favour with a win yesterday, perhaps showing that Reading just need to keep a little more faith in him as he's doing a fine job.

2) Bolton need to tighten up defensively

What will be most frustrating for Bolton is that attacked well at times during this game but thanks to some poor defending, they gave a two cheap goals, which ultimately decided the outcome of the match.

Throughout the game and throughout Bolton's season, their defence has looked extremely poor, alongside a lack of goals to get them out of jail. It's something they desperately need to address.

If Bolton are to stay in this division, they either need to get some stronger defenders in or vastly work on their back line, because they're very dodgy at the back.

3) Is Garath McCleary back to his best for Reading?

Since signing for the club in 2012, Garath McCleary has evolved into one of Reading's star players, particularly in 2013/14 where he started in a play-off near miss.

In recent years, however, McCleary's form has sank slightly, due to consistent niggling injuries that have prevented him from getting a consistent run in the side.

He looked back to his best on the Reading right hand side yesterday though, being a constant thorn in Bolton's side with his pace, skill and vicious runs.

Fans will hope that he can keep fit and flourish back into the player we all know he can be.

Reading & Bolton fans... what did you make of this game? Who deserved to win? Who was your man of the match? Where will your team finish at the end of the season? Let us know your thoughts and opinions in the comments below!