"It was important to get the right result, but the performance was very pleasing," said Steve Coppell.
"If we had come away from the game with a 0-0 I think I would still have been pleased because of the performance.
"We were solid at the back and looked threatening going forward without really having that outstanding clear-cut chance but it always looked likely to come.
"To be fair to Doncaster, in the second half they had a couple of good opportunities and made it challenging for us, but it was still all about the quality finish from Dave Kitson.
"We were right behind the flight of the ball from the dugout and we could see it curling in. It was sweet viewing, I must admit."
Reading now lie four points behind second-placed Birmingham, and seven behind leaders Wolves with a game in hand, and Coppell believes the race for automatic promotion will go down to the wire.
"It's still down to any team who has a significant run and we, like a number of sides, are capable of that," he added.
"I think I've got some really good players and despite our recent results at home we're still in a very good position.
"I don't think anybody knows what to expect from the teams at the top of the table and it (automatic promotion) is still there to be taken."
Doncaster boss Sean O'Driscoll felt his side were unfortunate to come away from the game empty-handed, but lavished praise on Reading for the quality of their performance.
"We've been beaten by the odd goal by a lot of teams in this division and come off really disappointed, not with the way we've played, but with quality of the teams that have beaten us," he said.
"But that's not the case this time, I thought Reading were excellent.
"Our performance was good, we defended really well as a team and were brave on the ball.
"Every chance we had to play I thought we took it and on another night we would have got something out of the game.
"But, credit to Reading, I think they're the best side we've played by a million miles.
"They've got everything, pace, power and a bit of guile that you need and they impressed our boys."
O'Driscoll admitted there was little his side could do about Reading's winning goal.
"It was good movement," he added. "They isolated our full-back James Chambers and Kitson pulled off and finished it well.
"They sold him for £5.5million so you expect something special, but apart from that I thought we dealt with him really well."