Reading manager Noel Hunt joked that Saturday's goalless draw with Birmingham City was a 'bittersweet moment' as he now has to take his wife shopping.
The Royals always said that their first aim of the season was to reach 50 points, a figure which is enough to keep the side from relegation out of League One.
Saturday's stalemate with the runaway League One leaders saw the figure reached with 14 matches to spare and now means Noel must take Mrs Hunt out shopping.
"The bunch of lads we have are special, they’re such a great group," the former Championship winner said after the draw. "Nothing- not even the pitch- phases them. They’re solely focused on what we can do as a team, individually in our areas and as units. It’s a great mentality to have. We just have to make sure we stay on that page, which is really important to us.
"Everyone knows about 50 points- even my wife. She said that when we get to 50 points, I have to take her shopping so it’s bittersweet for me. We have different targets. I see the group and work with them every day, I know they had a target of 50 and then 53 because that’s what they finished on last year.
"We might be a small group and a young group but we’re ambitious and hungry. We have to keep the level of performance not only on game days but training. We try and out train the game- it’s full on and intensive, long and hard, to make the game easier. We have 14 games to go, 10 weeks left, so let’s see where we get."
Rounding off February five matches unbeaten, Reading travel to Wigan Athletic on Saturday looking to keep up their fine run of form as they sit just three points outside the play-offs.
