Brian: Our shape was much better

Reading manager Brian McDermott said he witnessed an improvement from the defeat against Wigan last week against Villa, but says his side need to be more clinical in the final third.

The Royals were on the back of a second straight defeat in a period of four days as they lost 1-0 to Aston Villa last night, thanks to Christian Beneteke’s goal ten minutes from time. It was a very uneventful game at Villa Park, with both sides looking destined for a relegation battle come the end of the season.

Speaking to the Official Reading FC website, McDermott said: ‘The boys are gutted but we have to keep going. Again the first goal proved crucial and they got it, it’s frustrating to lose another one late on. I thought the shape was much better than on Saturday, I didn’t think we were going to concede but then we let in a late goal.

‘It’s important the fans stick with us and try to get us over the line, to get a result from somewhere, hopefully on Saturday. We want some momentum having lost the last couple. We’d beaten Everton which was a great day but the last two haven’t been great. In the first half I thought it looked like we were going to go on and win.’

The jury is very much out on the former Slough Town boss. It’s all a matter of who you blame for this current failure, is it the inability of the current players or is it Brian’s outdated and ineffective tactics? One thing all Reading fans can agree on is that January can’t came quick enough, but under whose management?