After 40 goals in 100 games, you would think everything there was to say about Bradley Dack already had been.

But could the opposite be true, do we talk about him enough? Is Dack truly appreciated, do we gloss over his mind-boggling numbers of both goals and assists and not recognise just how unique a player he is?

In short, have we become so used to what he offers that it simply becomes the norm? He can be an easy target for criticism when things aren’t going well, as infrequent as that has been, with almost an inquest in to every below-par display.

What Dack brings is three players in one. On the tin, he’s a No.10, Rovers’ go to creative force, with a clear correlation between his performance level and Rovers’ results. There are the drag-backs, the nutmegs, the showreel of skills you would expect.

Then he has the qualities of a No.9, a willingness to get in the box, score the tap-ins and the scruffy close-range finishes that set him apart from others in his position.

Also thrown in is a tenacious, battling midfielder, chasing back in to the left-back position to cover for Greg Cunningham, bustling Lucas Joao off the ball, using his body to great effect.

He's no longer a secret, and is now a marked man, but given room in which to work, he's as good as anyone in the division.

Dack has put smiles back on faces, given the supporters a new hero they had craved. The impact he has had on the team and club as a whole can't be underestimated.

Dack, as against Millwall seven days earlier, had a quiet opening 45 minutes, but showed his thirst for goals after the break, holding off his marker before finding the back of the net with his shot on the turn.

His latest goal came three minutes after the break, with Rovers having opened the scoring eight minutes in to the first half with an excellent curling effort from Adam Armstrong.

Armstrong was drafted in to the line-up on the day of the game after Joe Rothwell, who was pencilled in to start, missed out with a bout of illness.

Rovers had to change their starting XI, and formation, after the late withdrawals, with Tosin Adarabioyo injured on the eve of the game, but showed their strength in depth as they began the game on the front foot.

Tony Mowbray’s rotation might not be for everyone, but the manager is building a group of players he can trust, which for him means whoever he selects, the team doesn’t become weaker.

In the opening half an hour Rovers could have put the game out of sight.

Armstrong and Stewart Downing combined for the opening goal and had plenty of open grass to work with as Reading were wide open.

Downing shot straight at goalkeeper Rafael Cabral after working a shooting angle from Elliott Bennett’s pass, while Corry Evans, recalled to the side, played in Sam Gallagher who should have at least hit the target when blasting over from the edge of the box.

Rovers struggled to build on the two goal lead Dack gave them however, with Reading enjoying their best spell of the match in the 20 minutes after that.

The Royals are unpredictable, and while there were plenty of mistakes thrown in, there were flashes of what they could offer.

Christian Walton had to wait 56 minutes to make his first save, nothing more than routine to gather a low George Puscas shot, but needed the post to come to his rescue as John Swift swept an effort goalwards from 25 yards.

Swift was a little closer in when he arrowed a shot in to the bottom corner in the 57th minute, after Derrick Williams had blocked from Ejaria, and at that point it was game on.

Reading had three strikers on the pitch, the home crowd were up, as Mowbray turned to his bench.

A demonstration of Rovers’ options allowed those substitutes to be Lewis Holtby, Bradley Johnson and Danny Graham. All vastly experienced, and that knowhow proved key in the way Rovers saw the game out.

Graham almost scored with his first touch, heading wide a Stewart Downing corner, Holtby had an opportunity to make it a dream debut when firing over from a Dack pass and Johnson had two efforts saved by Cabral.

The second of those, in the dying seconds, came after Rovers kept the ball for a sustained period.

Where previously they would have panicked, there was a sense of calm in the way they moved Reading around, exploiting the space on offer as Downing and Johnson came to the fore with their calmness on the ball.

Five minutes were added on, but in that time, Reading hardly saw the ball. The one moment they did saw Swift float in a free kick which Liam Moore met, only for Walton to save low down, as Mowbray’s maturing Rovers marched on.