Noel Hunt praised his Reading side for their defensive display as they held promotion-chasing Huddersfield Town to a 0-0 draw at the John Smith's Stadium.

The Terriers, who had lost their previous three, were dominant in the first half but the Royals came out on top in a topsy-turvy second half.

A second successive clean sheet and a second away clean sheet of the year, Hunt was in buoyant mood.

"A clean sheet is a big plus," Hunt said. "Back-to-back clean sheets now, so we’ll take that away from home. They’re a tough team, a really good outfit who are well-drilled with a good manager. The boys had to be at their best to keep them out.

"I thought they were better than us in the first half and we grew into it in the second half and probably had the better chances and opportunities. We spoke about it at half-time, we had to tidy it up going into the final third and on another day, we could have nicked a goal.

"You come to these stadiums with these young lads, and they go ‘wow.’ We have the Select Car Leasing Stadium but when you come away it can be daunting for some of the young lads. I don’t think we started the game, in some points, as quick as have done but we grew into it. The second half we tightened up around the final third, a bit braver with our passing forward."

Wanting his side to take pride in a clean sheet, he added: "It's huge. It’s our second clean sheet in a year [away from home]. They deserve it, we’re working hard in training and we’re working hard defensively and in attacking areas.

"Goals win games and clean sheets win leagues so it’s important that we have the pride to defend the cage and the box. I’m proud of the boys today."

Goalkeeper Joel Pereira suffered with a heavy landing while Harlee Dean limped off with a calf issue, making way for the returning Amadou Mbengue in the first half.

"He [Pereira] landed awkwardly when he came for a low cross and he’s punched it away. He seems okay now. We’ll assess him again tonight and tomorrow.

"We probably used Amadou a little earlier than we wanted to, but Harlee has been superb for us in the last five or six weeks and it’s a real shame. We’re hoping it’s not too bad and we caught it early. Fingers crossed for him. "

On Tuesday, Reading host relegation-threatened Shrewsbury Town for the first time this season.