by John May

Gunnarsson has learned to keep his feet on the ground

Reading midfielder Brynjar Gunnarsson says the Royals' mental strength has been the driving force behind their march towards the Premiership.

Reading will seal promotion to English football's top tier if they win at Leicester on Saturday.

Gunnarsson, 30, says that with no siege mentality to draw on, the Royals' main battle has been to prevent complacency.

He told BBC Sport: "It seems strange but we have had to show our mental strength when things were going well."

The Iceland international, who joined Reading from Watford during the summer, said: "In December and January everybody else was talking about this being the year but we had to ignore all that.

"We managed to concentrate on a game-by-game basis and never got carried away.

"You can't afford to get carried away because in football you never know what is round the corner."

Having kept a firm lid on any hint of celebration for so long this season, Reading are unlikely to spoil the party by popping the champagne corks early.

PROMOTION PERMUTATIONS On Saturday March 26... If Reading beat Leicester, they are promoted If Reading draw with Leicester, they will be promoted if Watford and Leeds both fail to win If Reading lose to Leicester, they will still be promoted if both Watford and Leeds lose, or if Watford lose and Leeds draw

But the knowledge that a win at Leicester will mathematically confirm promotion has at last drawn an admission from Gunnarsson.

"For us not to get promoted, something special would have to happen," he said.

"We haven't got excited about promotion just because we've been in a great position. We'll celebrate when it's absolutely certain.

"We're not going to celebrate on Wednesday or Friday. We have to play on Saturday and then we'll see what happens.

"As for the Premiership, we'll take care of that when we're there."

Sealing Reading's place in the top tier for the first time in their history will not be enough, with Gunnarsson revealing the players' determination to go up as champions.

"Once promotion is mathematically confirmed the next target will be to win the title," he said.