Brentford boss Thomas Frank hopes Ollie Watkins can be his side’s Cristiano Ronaldo.
Winger-turned-striker Watkins scored his 11th goal of the season to sink Reading 1-0 and lift the Bees to within two points of the play-offs.
In the 62nd minute Mathias Jensen crossed from the left and Watkins stole in between two defenders to power home his header.
Frank said: “Ollie’s was a fantastic header. He’s a constant threat. His link-up play and his work ethic is crucial.
“We are so pleased he has stepped up and was the main man, the one who decided the game today.
“He’s definitely a number nine now, because he’s so flexible. Cristiano Ronaldo did quite well in the beginning as a winger. Hopefully Ollie can do something similar.”
It is now five wins from six matches for the upwardly mobile Bees and Frank added: “We are in a good spell with a lot of good performances and I think we have played better than that.
“But this was one of those games where we performed quite well against another opponent in form, with some top players.”
Reading, unbeaten in their previous four outings under new manager Mark Bowen, had the best chance of the first period on the half-hour mark when George Puscas burst through on goal.
The Romanian forward opted to go round David Raya rather than shoot and the Bees keeper got down well to make the save.
“I was willing him to have a shot and that’s his game, usually he likes to get his shot away,” said manager Mark Bowen. “But he changed his mind and the ball just ran away from him.
“Maybe a lack of concentration cost us for the goal we conceded. But overall we had a lot of huff and puff, a lot of hard work, but that little bit of quality in the final third was lacking.
“Numerous times we went forward and you are thinking something is going to happen, but the ball wasn’t as good as it can be. They took their chance. It’s small margins in this league.”
