GettyImagesAdam Le Fondre comes off the bench to pull a goal back against Chelsea

Adam Le Fondre's injury-time equaliser against Stoke on the opening day of the season was quickly forgotten, as Reading embarked on a run that saw them forced to wait until mid-November for their first Premier League win since returning to the top flight. A run of seven straight defeats followed that brought the Royals towards the end 2012 with their victory over Everton remaining their only three point haul from 19 games. However, in recent weeks, things have started to look up for Reading, who have lost only one of their last six. And that is, in no small part, down to that man Le Fondre.

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The fact that the striker has done so well coming off the bench in recent weeks may actually not have aided his claim for a starting spot. He has become Brian McDermott's premier choice for the 'super-sub' role, specialising in late goals. In fact, no player has scored more goals after the 70th minute in Premier League games this season than Le Fondre, who has seven - the joint most along with Manchester United's Robin van Persie.

Le Fondre has five goals from the bench in the last three games, as can be seen from his WhoScored match history page. Without those goals, Reading would find themselves six points worse off and bottom of the Premier League, rather than, as precariously as they currently are, just above the relegation zone. Le Fondre has scored those goals from his last seven attempts, scoring three out of three against West Brom and Newcastle, before netting with two of his four shots in just 23 minutes against Chelsea, to make up five of Reading's last six goals overall.

Surely, Le Fondre's goals aside, something else must have changed at the Madjeski Stadium for such a drastic change in form to occur. However, in each of their last six Premier League matches, of which they have won three and drawn two, their opponents have had significantly more attempts on goal, whilst only against West Brom did the Royals dominate possession. They have, as they did in winning the Championship last season, begun to win games without playing particularly well, where before they had very few points to show for their equally poor performances.

Part of their revival has been down to a mindset that has seen an increased belief in the teams' ability to come back when down and looking very much out. Two goals down at home to a Chelsea side in search of their 5th consecutive away win in the league, Reading had their first attempt on goal in the 79th minute, when the game seemed very much dead and buried. That shot was predictably from the newly introduced Adam Le Fondre, though it might well be that the arrival of another substitute deserves as much recognition.

Hope Akpan joined Reading early in January from League 1's Crawley, unlikely to be expecting to go straight into the first team. He has, though, come off the bench in two of Reading's three games during the time he has been there, assisting each of Reading's last three goals in just 39 minutes on the pitch, with all three setting up Le Fondre. If you were to watch his assist for Reading's second goal at Newcastle, you could be forgiven for saying it was one of the worst - and most fortunate - assists you'll see this season, but there was no doubting the quality of his two against Chelsea.

Picking the ball up in central midfield, he played a nicely weighted through-ball for Le Fondre to run across the Blues' defence and produce a tidy finish, before his deft flick-on in the final minute of injury time was dispatched ruthlessly by the striker to earn the home side a valuable point.

The Akpan-Le Fondre combination has proven a lethal one in recent weeks and Reading will need it to be in their coming games. Given their recent form there is every reason for them to conceivably beat Sunderland this weekend and take points from the following tricky trip to Stoke. With the likes of Wigan, Norwich and Aston Villa floundering, Reading stand an outside chance of pulling off a great escape, though much of that will depend on how long they can keep this run of form going and that, in turn, depends on whether Le Fondre can continue to produce goals.

The Royals do not have a squad that was expected to retain their top flight status beyond this season, so anything they can do in the coming months will be seen as a bonus. Brian McDermott's men may well been playing in the Championship next season, but they will certainly go down fighting, and just as they have done in their games this term, they will keep doing so until the bitter end.

*All stats courtesy of WhoScored.com

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