The Royals returned to league duty after the international break and picked up a point in a 1-1 draw against Rotherham Uniteed at the SCL Stadium on Saturday.
Josh Benson gave the visitors the lead in the first
half but Charlie Savage scored late on to secure a point. We remain 18th, three points off the relegation zone.
Manager Leam Richardson felt it was a result to build on. Here is what he had to say, he spoke to Royals TV.
Richardson on the performance
“Straight after, the emotion is that you want to win every game. I thought we controlled a large part of the game with possession, even with our structure. In the final third, where the edge has got to come in, we have to get better and we will.
“The game was a little bit stop-start due to the officiating and the opposition, which you have to respect as everyone has a way to try and win. Going one down, when we were in control in my opinion, I thought we had enough chances to take the game away from them in the first half. They had something to hold on to. We will dust ourselves down, look back at it straight away and will be better next week.
“[Rotherham] probably had one chance and took it, which you have to do away from home so credit to them. Credit to our players, they never gave up all the way to the end to the final whistle.
“It is easy to get emotionally attached to games like that and lose your structure, with the will to win you can easily lose, as we saw with the breakaway.
“We had enough moments and once we get players back and have real positive changes to make – the lads at the top end had to carry the fight most of the day today and there is nothing better as a manager when you can make positive decisions going into 50 or 60 minutes and bring fresh flair players on.”
Richardson on the penalty appeals
“I have been told both are stonewall penalties so I will trust your judgement and that of 200/300 fans who have told me already.
“Officiating is hard. Should we have got them? You would like to think you would get them at home, but we didn’t and the hard work and endeavour got us back into the game with a fantastic goal from Charlie. We have to be better in those final moments.”
Richardson on Charlie Savage’s equaliser
“It was fantastic. He nearly scored one exactly the same and when he does push on we wrap around so we can lose another midfielder in the top line. Technically he is excellent and you will always fancy him up there. It was a fantastic goal.”
Richardson on moving forwards
“When you are picking a team up in November, you are picking up departments and challenges which people will never see unless you’re a football manager. You pick them up quite quickly – we spoke about levels and how we invest in ourselves and grow this football club to move forward.
“The initial thoughts are that it is two games and four points, two points a game. We wanted six but all positive.
“There is nothing better than playing games. At the minute we have too many injuries so the international break was a bit of a blessing, and we could get some work into them structurally.
“We had 70% of the ball, touching on 500 passes and 11 chances. We have to create that possession into penetration and chances. Once we do that, with our quality of player and they execute it, we will move forward.”
Richardson on the fans
“I really enjoyed it – it was fantastic. My kids came for the first time so they will have seen Reading at their best. It was disappointing that we couldn’t give them three points but I’m sure we will give them a performance that we can grow from.
“I thought the fans were excellent with the noise – when the ball hit the net the roof nearly came off. They were trying to encourage us to get the winner, and they have such an important part to play. Hopefully they enjoyed the fireworks and the day – fingers crossed we can see more of them.”
