Nighttime Non-Stop
Reading 1 - 1 Nottingham Forest
Royals boss Brian McDermott was disappointed not to have taken all three points after a close game against Nottingham Forest.
Alex Pearce gave Reading a first half lead, and an uncharacteristic Adam Federici error allowed Forest a way back into the game, his kick hitting Jem Karacan and falling fortunately for Robert Earnshaw to equalise.
Federici had made a couple of stunning stops in the first half, and Forest were then grateful to their own 'keeper Lee Camp, who had to make a couple of good second half saves as Reading looked the more likely side to win it late on.
McDermott said, "I'm disappointed we didn't win. We felt we should have won, we showed great spirit and commitment and got ourselves in the lead.
"Adam has come straight in, held his hands up and apologised, but there's no need for him to do that, we're all in it together. Everyone makes mistakes. It's unfortunate but just one of those things.
"Adam kicks like that 100 times, this time it's hit one of ours, then Earnshaw has turned and scored. Unfortunately as a keeper it's highlighted.
"He'd put in a good performance, made a fantastic save in the first half, pulled one right out of the top corner.
"I thought we responded to it well, I thought we would go on and win it but it was two really committed sides, giving it everything and it could have gone either way. We want to win our home games, it didn't happen so we have no choice but to move on.
"We've no interest in just holding teams at home, we want to win. We're simmering at the moment, we're close to being there. We haven't had a lot of luck, we didn't get it against Scunthorpe, then a deflection against Portsmouth last week, then this goal against Forest - but I know that will change, the breaks will come."
In the second half Camp was in fine form, and he is becoming something of a nemesis for us, having saved a Brian Howard penalty at the City Ground last season, denying the same player again, among others. "He made a great save from Brian Howard, we had other little opportunities that we couldn't take. They're a decent team, they'll be close at the end of the season, I'm sure of that.
"They played with three in midfield and that made it difficult to get two strikers on the pitch. Shane played 70 minutes, I thought he was excellent considering he hadn't played for a couple of weeks. Then Noel came on and was excellent as well. It was difficult to go two up front because of the way they played, but I still thought Gylfi had scored with a great effort, great skill from Howard in the build up, it looked inches wide."
Reading's young goalscorer Alex Pearce put in a good performance once again, and marked his display with a tidy first half effort. Brian commented, "He has a knack of scoring goals, and I thought he played well, I was really pleased with him against quick, lively strikers."
Defender Andy Griffin came off early on with an injury, and Brian explained, "It was his hamstring, a slight hamstring and he's had a little bit of a problem there so we have to look after him. I thought Brynjar came on and did well, it just shows how important he is."
Finally, the manager is looking forward to their midweek game with Northampton in the Carling Cup, saying, "Tuesday can't come quick enough, we want to get straight back out there and we want to win. We might be unbeaten in three but we want to turn draws into wins."
Alex Pearce gave Reading a first half lead, and an uncharacteristic Adam Federici error allowed Forest a way back into the game, his kick hitting Jem Karacan and falling fortunately for Robert Earnshaw to equalise.
Federici had made a couple of stunning stops in the first half, and Forest were then grateful to their own 'keeper Lee Camp, who had to make a couple of good second half saves as Reading looked the more likely side to win it late on.
McDermott said, "I'm disappointed we didn't win. We felt we should have won, we showed great spirit and commitment and got ourselves in the lead.
"Adam has come straight in, held his hands up and apologised, but there's no need for him to do that, we're all in it together. Everyone makes mistakes. It's unfortunate but just one of those things.
"Adam kicks like that 100 times, this time it's hit one of ours, then Earnshaw has turned and scored. Unfortunately as a keeper it's highlighted.
"He'd put in a good performance, made a fantastic save in the first half, pulled one right out of the top corner.
"I thought we responded to it well, I thought we would go on and win it but it was two really committed sides, giving it everything and it could have gone either way. We want to win our home games, it didn't happen so we have no choice but to move on.
"We've no interest in just holding teams at home, we want to win. We're simmering at the moment, we're close to being there. We haven't had a lot of luck, we didn't get it against Scunthorpe, then a deflection against Portsmouth last week, then this goal against Forest - but I know that will change, the breaks will come."
In the second half Camp was in fine form, and he is becoming something of a nemesis for us, having saved a Brian Howard penalty at the City Ground last season, denying the same player again, among others. "He made a great save from Brian Howard, we had other little opportunities that we couldn't take. They're a decent team, they'll be close at the end of the season, I'm sure of that.
"They played with three in midfield and that made it difficult to get two strikers on the pitch. Shane played 70 minutes, I thought he was excellent considering he hadn't played for a couple of weeks. Then Noel came on and was excellent as well. It was difficult to go two up front because of the way they played, but I still thought Gylfi had scored with a great effort, great skill from Howard in the build up, it looked inches wide."
Reading's young goalscorer Alex Pearce put in a good performance once again, and marked his display with a tidy first half effort. Brian commented, "He has a knack of scoring goals, and I thought he played well, I was really pleased with him against quick, lively strikers."
Defender Andy Griffin came off early on with an injury, and Brian explained, "It was his hamstring, a slight hamstring and he's had a little bit of a problem there so we have to look after him. I thought Brynjar came on and did well, it just shows how important he is."
Finally, the manager is looking forward to their midweek game with Northampton in the Carling Cup, saying, "Tuesday can't come quick enough, we want to get straight back out there and we want to win. We might be unbeaten in three but we want to turn draws into wins."