Blackburn Rovers transfer agreement proved to be a sliding doors moment for Reading FC: View | OneFootball

Jason Roberts helped to take the Royals to a new level and was crucial in their promotion quest during the second half of the 2011/12 campaign.

Jason Roberts' move from Blackburn Rovers to Reading was a fascinating one to analyse, with the experienced striker making the move to Berkshire in January 2012.

Following their play-off heartbreak in May 2011, the Royals suffered a poor start to the 2011/12 campaign, but Sir John Madejski retained his faith in Brian McDermott and the latter was able to turn things around at the Select Car Leasing Stadium.

After winning just one of their opening six league games, they managed to get themselves back on track and were in the promotion mix by the start of January.

Summer additions Mikele Leigertwood, Kaspars Gorkss and Adam Le Fondre had all proved their worth at that point, with Gorkss proving to be a good replacement for Matt Mills and Le Fondre adequately replacing the prolific Shane Long.

However, the injection of more quality and fresh faces during the 2012 winter window was only going to strengthen the team further and this January business ended up paying dividends.

Reading FC had hits and misses during the 2012 January transfer window

The Berkshire side endured a fairly mixed January window.

Tomasz Cwyka didn't make that much of an impact and Karl Sheppard didn't make an impact in the first team.

However, Matthew Connolly was a useful addition to have at full-back and Hayden Mullins (pictured above) stepped up admirably when the Royals had some injury issues in midfield.

Mullins performed well in crucial games and helped to get the Royals over the line - and although he won't be remembered by some fans - his contributions deserve to be recognised.

The January addition who ended up making the most impact though was Roberts, who made the move from then-Premier League club Blackburn.

At the time, he looked like a fairly good addition, although it seemed clear that he would only be able to make an impact during the medium term and not the long term, considering the striker was already coming towards the latter stages of his career.

With his experience in the top tier though, it's no surprise that he went on to thrive in Berkshire.

Jason Roberts' arrival took Reading FC to a new level

Roberts made an excellent start to life at the SCL Stadium, registering three goals and one assist in his opening four games as a Royal.

These contributions helped the Berkshire side to win an extra nine points, which gave them a lot of momentum.

They were able to use this momentum to go unbeaten in all but one of the 19 games that Roberts appeared in during the second half of 2011/12.

Not only did he score plenty of goals, but he also assisted many too, with his strength, ability on the ball and hold up play allowing him to create for others.

The best example of this came against Leeds United (H), when he used his body to shrug off a defender before setting up Le Fondre's second goal of the game.

Clearly, with the experience he had, the forward was a great asset to have both on and off the pitch and his goal in April 2012 against Southampton helped the Berkshire side to secure a vital 3-1 victory at St Mary's.

That game looked set to decide who was going to win the league title - and it took McDermott's men a big step closer to a return to the English top flight.

He may not have scored during the promotion-winning clash against Nottingham Forest and his season may not have ended in the best way, having been sent off against Crystal Palace, but his contributions were crucial.

And the Royals may have already had Le Fondre, Noel Hunt and Simon Church on their books before his arrival, but the added firepower that Roberts brought following Long's departure was much-needed and his experience aided the Berkshire side's promotion quest.

His arrival helped to take the club to a new level - and fans of the current League One club will remember him fondly.