Dolan proud of Royals’ performance

Reading’s caretaker boss Eamonn Dolan has praised his players for their superb effort against Manchester United yesterday.

The Royals found themselves behind on 21 minutes, as Rooney’s deflected effort gave United the lead at Old Trafford. Despite this setback, Dolan’s side continued to battle and we’re unlucky not to win a penalty kick, as Vidic appeared to push Mariappa in the area, another point which the caretaker highlighted in his post-match interview.

Speaking to the Official Reading FC website, Dolan said: ‘We put in a very good performance, the players gave everything as they always have done, but it just didn’t go our way. To play Manchester United at Old Trafford is a daunting task, but that’s the league we’re in. If you want to stay in the league you’ve got to equip yourselves well and today we did that.’

‘You look at the game in context. They had Rooney, Van Persie, Vidic, Ferdinand – just take a look at the players on their bench! But our boys really gave a good account of themselves & that’s what Reading Football Club is about. I thought we had a clear penalty when Vidic pushed over Mariappa, that’s the sort of luck you need to get a result here.’

Hats off to Dolan for yesterday, tactically he got it spot on in every sense. Don’t get me wrong, I still wouldn’t be keen on him taking the full time reigns, but the way we performed against the soon-to-be Champions of the league was superb. In terms of the penalty, it was a penalty, but lets be honest, it is Old Trafford after all.