The Royals secured a point in a 2-2 draw against Barnsley at the SCL Stadium on Saturday.
Haydon Roberts made an instant impact after signing by scoring the opener, but Barnsley equalised, going into half-time level. The Tykes took the lead in the second half through Adam Phillips but Jack Marriott scored late on to share the points.
Reading now sit 13th in the table, six points off the playoffs and seven above the relegation zone. Royals boss Leam Richardson praised his squad on their good performance.
Here is what he had to say, he spoke to the Reading Chronicle.
Richardson on the performance
“I thought we played well today. I thought we deserved to probably win the game but then it comes down to a few moments, doesn’t it? Probably the only negative were obviously the goals conceded.
“Overall I thought as a spectacle for ourselves, could the players give any more? No. The passing was sharp, the tempo was good.”
Richardson on bouncing back from last week
“That’s one out of 12, wasn’t it? We as a group know that’s our standards, which we showed today and in the main we have done. I thought we had some really good individual performances and I thought collectively we were very good against a really good Barnsley team.
“They’ve got lads on the pitch today where Championship clubs are bidding £4m, £5m, £6m for them, so I thought we were good today.”
Richardson on Roberts
“That’s the attributes I wanted to look for within our team. Again, I think the chairman [Rob Couhig] repeated, I didn’t say it flippantly when I came into the club, I carry quite a lot of experience and I think if we do have a real solid few windows we’ll be a really good football club again on the pitch, because outside the pitch the chairman and the ownership groups have maintained and made it a really strong football club.
“We have to represent that on the pitch as well.”
Richardson on Dorsett moving to centre-back
“You’ve got to be adaptable, versatile at this level, because again, I think it’s a really good level. It’s a little bit like the Championship used to be, very tactical and the players, some of them are learning on the job here.
“The likes of Kelvin Ehibhatiomhan and Abrefa, Jeriel Dorsett, they haven’t had that pathway where they’ve gone out on loan and they’re learning on our pitch and it’s important that we give them that education daily and then on a Saturday.
“I want a team who can run, I want a team that’s athletic and that can go around the country and either run and play, fight and play and do different things, because you’ve got to do that in this league and to be successful in this league, you have to be all them three at any given moment.”
Richardson on having choices within his squad
“I’d rather have them headaches than when I came in the building and looking behind me with no players on the pitch. Listen, that’s the moment that we’ve been in.
“Previous to me coming in, I’m sure they had their challenges, etc, but we’ve got to move forward, we’ve got to push forward and we’ve got to make them positive decisions.
“So far, the chairman, Todd, Rick and the ownership group, very supportive, very forward-thinking and they want to do the best for this football club. So it’s very pleasing for the ownership group.”
