The Royals have been knocked out of the Carabao Cup after a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Wrexham at the Racecourse Ground.
Two second-half Nathan Broadhead goals secured Wrexham’s name in the next round.
Royals boss Noel Hunt was proud of his side’s performance despite the defeat. Here is what he had to say, he spoke to the official club website.
Hunt on the performance
“I said to the lads, we should be coming in here two goals up, but it wasn’t to be. I felt we stopped doing what were doing in the first half for the first 15 minutes [of the second half].
“We switched off for the set play and they get a bit fortunate with the ricochet and we’re 1-0 down. Then the second goal goes in and for us it was disappointing to lose the goals but I’m so proud of how we performed and tried to play.
“How we played, the tempo we played at and how we moved the ball, we were just missing the goal in the first half. In the last stages of the game, we had three or four opportunities to score so for us that was the only disappointing aspect.”
Hunt on making changes
“We changed it for tonight’s game and made a lot of changes in the game with a lot of young ones coming in and boys needing minutes. I thought they were excellent for long periods of time.
“We felt we could leave [Kamari Doyle] on because he looked like he could go and make something happen in the final third. He’s such a talented player, there is just things to work on off the ball where we have to make him better, so he sees what it means to keep the football in those moments. There were little things we could work on as a team, but we were really pleased with him.”
“I thought [Matty Jacob] was superb. He played against Tottenham there for us and he may have to do a job for us there on Saturday so we will have to wait and see. I thought he was fantastic.
“Charlie [Savage] was really good, Ben [Elliott] was really good, and the front players were really good in terms of their movement and timing and getting into space. We’re disappointed to be out of the cup – I hate losing games – but I have to see the performance and how we can build on it.
“[Mark O’Mahony] worked his backside off today. He is a big lad, and he takes the hits but when he comes into play and people play off him, we look a threat. We are really rooting for that first goal.”
