Reading boss Noel Hunt has admitted that it was 'tough' to motivate his squad ahead of Saturday's win over Bolton Wanderers following the late defeat to Burton Albion on Tuesday and loss on Sam Smith on Friday.

Heading into the weekend's 1-0 victory over the Trotters, the Royals had lost three on the bounce, including a stoppage-time defeat at relegation-threatened Burton after clawing themselves back from two goals down.

To add insult to injury, Wrexham signed top scorer Smith for £2m on Friday, with youngster Jayden Wareham drafted in at late notice to fill his large shoes.

Speaking after the win, which was secured with Harvey Knibbs' 89th minute penalty, Hunt admitted that the squad were low and had a meeting ahead of the match to discuss the departure of Smith.

"It was tough," Hunt said. "They were a bit down yesterday but I’m so lucky that my best player is my best trainer. Lewis Wing, Tyler Bindon and Harvey Knibbs train like it’s a game every day. It’s something I’ve been saying to the rest of the team, you have to outtrain the game. You have to train harder in the training to make the games easier. The more we get that mentality, we will get better. We stay focused.

"There was a little bit of a lull, but we addressed it yesterday in a meeting, that Sam had gone, before the team meeting. We’re professionals, this is the transfer window and these things happen, it’s how we move forward now as a team and get stronger."

Scoring a late winner, so soon after losing to a late goal at the Pirelli Stadium, is the kind of character Hunt is after.

"It shows the character of the group, to keep going. I’ve seen teams crumble before that. I said to the boys on Tuesday that I fell back in love with the game in terms of how we wanted to play and control the game. Tonight topped it off, they deserve every ounce of myself and the staff because they give everything every day. It’s important we stick together, keep growing as a team as best we can and move forward."