BLACKBURN Rovers boss Gary Bowyer insisted he will not be getting carried despite seeing his in-form side make it three wins on the spin yesterday with a rousing 3-1 victory at home to Reading.

An emphatically taken brace from top-scorer Rudy Gestede and a stunning free kick from man-of-the-match Ben Marshall swept Rovers to a success that hauled them into the top six for the first time in Bowyer’s reign.

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Although Bournemouth’s win over Brighton & Hove Albion in the evening kick-off meant they dropped one place to seventh, resurgent Rovers will go into Tuesday’s trip to Millwall just two points from second spot.

A delighted but measured Bowyer said:  “It’s now about maintaining the momentum and the performances levels and concentrating on that and demanding more from them.

“We are only young so we have to make sure we keep on top of them and don’t get carried away or anything silly like that.

“I’ve seen it too many times when teams are in the top six in November and then fighting for survival in April or May.

“All we can do is keep working away, keep working hard and keep looking to improve again.

“That’s the message that’s been dealt to the players since pre-season and we will continue to do that.”

Second-half strikes from Marshall and Gestede ensured Rovers of a victory that looked in doubt after Glenn Murray had brought the Royals level on the stroke of half-time.

“It was a very good win against a tough team,” said Bowyer, who has lost just four of his last 27 Championship matches.

“We spoke in the week about getting the first goal, so we were delighted to do that, but to concede just before half-time knocked us back a little bit.

“But the response second half from our lads was phenomenal.”

No-one was more impressive for Rovers than Marshall who, as well as netting his sixth goal of the season in spectacular fashion, also set-up Gestede’s first and played a big part in his killer second.

 “You look at the goals and Marshy has contributed to all three,” said Bowyer, who confirmed Lee Williamson came off at half-time with a groin injury.

“The first one was an outstanding inswinging cross with his right foot, the second one was an unbelievable free kick and the third one he displayed great wing play and set the goal up with a great left-footed cross.

“We’re delighted with his contribution but as we keep saying, there is more to come from him.”

Reading manager Nigel Adkins felt the match turned on the awarding of the free kick from which Marshall put Rovers back in front.

Adkins said: “Obviously they’ve scored a good goal with the header in the first period of the game but I thought we did really well in the first half, coming away from home against a good side in form.

“We’ve hit the crossbar from Glenn Murray, we had shots going in, we passed the football about and deservedly got an equaliser.

“For the first time this season, having gone behind, I said to the players ‘we’ve got to have the belief that we can go on and win this game’.

“And we’ve started the second half brightly but then, 10 minutes into it, for me it’s not a free kick. I’ve watched it back on video four or five times and for me it’s not a free kick – and it’s a big turning point.

“It’s a fantastic finish from the player but it shouldn’t have been a free kick. From there, the confidence in Blackburn grew.”