Reading boss Brian McDermott says he now knows more about what is needed to survive in the Premier League.

After a run of seven successive defeats, Reading have pieced together two wins and a draw from their last four games in the league.

And it has come about with a change of approach from McDermott.

"I have learned a lot about this division in the last four months," he said. "It is an incredible division. Sometimes you can't be gung-ho, you can't go for it like a boxer because you will get knocked out.

"That is what happened to us early on in the season.

"You set the team up the best way you possibly can, you stay in the game and if you can win it late on, you win it late on.

"You have to (contain teams). It's a case of staying in the game. We can't give away goals in the first half."