By Michael Gilkes, former Royals winger and co-commentator on Reading 107FM

The Premier League table shows that it might be a difficult time for people associated with Reading at the moment. Whatever level you play football at, be it in a Sunday League right through to the Premier League, not a single person likes losing. That's a fact of life.

But in my opinion, players don't need to be told what they have or haven't done when they face a situation like the Reading team faces now.

I say this in the nicest way, but sometimes players just need to be left alone to do their jobs.

So I don't want to be sounding like an outsider who is offering advice to the boys, because they have proved that they can do it themselves.

Reading have plenty of characters within the squad who can pull the club through this sticky patch, anyone who has seen them over the last few years knows that. You don't need to name names, every fan knows which players do certain jobs on the pitch and which players do others.

But there is also a lot we don't know about the Reading players as people. In football, sometimes you get a character in the dressing room who doesn't say a lot, but they do an awful lot out there in the game. And other players do say a lot and lead with their voice. Characters come in different forms, and the management staff and coaches will know which qualities certain individuals have and how and when to use them to the team's benefit.

A supporter's - and my own - opinion comes from what we see out there on the football pitch. But the most important thing is the feeling within that dressing room - the players are the ones who really know what makes the group tick. They are the ones who work together every single day, and people on the outside have no idea about how things are working behind the scenes.

When it comes to the management, they will see those boys every single day. They see the reaction after a win, after a defeat, after a good training session, after a bad one. They know when players need a lift in morale or when they need calming down. And there is no-one better at the psychology and motivational work than Steve Coppell.

This group of players have certainly raised the bar in terms of level of performance over the last 18 months. We must not forget that this is the most successful period of Reading Football Club's 137-year history.

People should think about that and be proud of this team. I'm not disrespecting anything that has gone before the Premier League, with the brilliant Championship title-winning campaign.

But we've got the opportunity to see some of the biggest teams and best players in the world here in Reading on a regular basis. And that's because of the achievements of the present squad. The players have had to get used to facing the best teams in the world during a very short space of time. It's a level that this club had never achieved before that promotion in 2006.

Like any business, a football club has to improve all the time. Football is becoming one of the biggest and most high-profile businesses in the world. That means a continuous step forward is needed, and everyone has to step up their game.

That's what happened last year, the players played out of their skin every single week. They reached extremely high standards that they'd never reached before, week in, week out. This year it's been more difficult to perform to that same level all the time.

It's more important than ever that everyone sticks together. Group togetherness in football is so important, it's like a chain. That bond must run from the club's staff, coaches and players through to the loyal supporters who have followed the team since the old Elm Park days and onto the new fan who has come on board in recent years. If anyone chooses to break that chain things become more difficult for everyone else.

So I think the rest of this season is incredibly exciting. And as someone who watches and follows Reading FC, I'm looking forward to seeing the boys rise to this challenge.

Since they got promoted to the Premier League the players have all raised their own standards, and those new benchmarks need to be met again. It's a test for them, but it's also a brilliant one. I'd love to have it. And I don't have any doubt that those players there are relishing it and loving it.