Reading manager Mark Bowen has said that his side 'is a match for any team in the league' ahead of their New Year's Day trip to Fulham.
On the fifth game of Christmas, Reading gave their fans a 2-0 win away at Preston in the Championship, taking their December tally to 11 - no team has more points this month than Bowen's.
They're unbeaten through December having won the last three, and conceding just once all month.
It's placed them in 14th for the trip to 3rd-place Fulham tomorrow and speaking to www.readingfc.co.uk ahead of the game, Bowen spoke of his caution at facing the Londoners, and doesn't want his team to take any complacency into the Cottage:
“We’ve got a very difficult game coming up now against Fulham, so we have to wipe ourselves down and recover, and make sure we go there and get something again," explained the 56-year-old.
“We know to expect a difficult afternoon against a really accomplished side.
“This league is brutal and unforgiving, so if you take your eye off the ball or look too far ahead, you can quickly take two steps backwards. So we need to make sure we’re professional and do the job in hand and keep climbing the table.
“The players have confidence and we know we’re a match for any team in the league, if we do things right."
Bowen's initial appointment was met with stern criticism from Royals' fans but it's not taken long for the Welshman to win them over - he's taken 24 points from a possible 39 in charge.
“Our biggest danger ahead of Preston was that we had won a couple and kept three clean sheets," continued Bowen. "It would have been easy to pat ourselves on the back and told ourselves that even if we’d been beaten, it had been a decent Christmas.
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“But that’s not good enough and we have a lot of catching up to do. We want to keep pushing on in every single game we play. And now, ahead of Fulham, my players are fully focused and ready for the battle ahead.”
A win for Reading can only take them up a place to 13th but a loss for Fulham could throw them out of the top-six depending on other results.
The verdict
Reading and Bowen have been quietly going about their business and their results this month show that they're here to compete.
They'll be raring to go again at Fulham and to keep their momentum going, but it won't be easy. Fulham have some of the best players in the Championship and if Reading want to keep them at bay, they'll need a huge team performance.