Boss pleased with control of the game

Steve Clarke seemed to have mixed emotions after his side’s goalless draw with Blackburn Rovers on Saturday.

The Royals were in control of the majority of the game, with Blackburn rarely troubling our backline. However, despite this control of the match, there was a concerning lack of quality in the final third from us. The manager addressed both of these issues.

Speaking to the Official Reading FC website, Clarke said: ‘The team performance was very good. We`ve had a few games this year where we`ve had chance after a chance, and especially here at home where you`re thinking the goal will come – and again it didn`t come today.’

‘Today was slightly different, we changed the shape of the team, we played a different way, we certainly passed the ball better and played more football. We controlled the game pretty much from start to finish. The only thing that was missing was getting the goal.’

I agree with Clarke, the team performance was very good – similar to the Cardiff game, good control, but didn’t take our chances. I know the league form is poor, no wins in five games now, but the performances are encouraging heading into the FA Cup semi-final next week.