Vital Reading takes a look at the players’ performance from the 3-1 victory over Rotherham on Tuesday night.
Vital Reading takes a look at the players’ performance from the 3-1 victory over Rotherham on Tuesday night. A second-half brace from Simon Cox and a first goal for Jamie Mackie sealed a crucial win for the Royals.
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Adam Federici – 7 – It will probably go unnoticed that he made some smart saves early on when Rotherham were putting on pressure. Distribution was good throughout.
Stephen Kelly – 6 – Not exactly an inspiring performance, but was not really tested in all fairness considering Rotherham were playing very narrow. Kelly still showed his experience though in a solid showing.
Alex Pearce – 7 – Bar not winning as many aerial duels as usual, it was a good, solid game from Pearcey. Derbyshire and Revell`s lack of pace did make it easier for him, but shouldn`t take away a good performance from him.
Anton Ferdinand – 7 – The former West Ham defender only lasted 45 minutes on his Royals debut because of injury, but still looked classy in that spell. He was very local and commanding the area very well, winning all the headers when Rotherham pressure was rife. If we can get him fully fit and injury free, he will be a quality player.
Chris Gunter – 6 – The Welshman was shifted out to left-back and had a good game on the left side, despite rarely being troubled. Obita in front of him also gave him the necessary defensive support if needed, which may have been half the season Adkins chose him there instead of Kelly.
Oliver Norwood – 7 – Despite a few stray cross-field balls, the midfielder seemed back to his best in this game. He proved once again that he doesn`t have an impact on the ball, but off it too, making tackles and interceptions, before getting us away on the break.
Danny Williams – 6 – It was great to see him back on the pitch – it was clear he wasn`t 100% yet, but still put in a good shift. There were no mistakes and seemed to get better as the game progressed. A Norwood & Williams partnership could be a good mix.
Jamie Mackie – 8 – Man of the Match – The forward proves to the manager that he shouldn`t have dropped him on Saturday with a superb performance. He constantly had the beating of his man, and his goal and assist for Coxy proved that he is not just all running, and that he has quality on the ball too.
Simon Cox – 8 – Brought back into the team along with Mackie and like him, proved a point to the gaffer. He had a quiet first half, but the second half was probably his best in a Reading shirt, not just because of his two goals, which were fantastic finishes – his link up Murray and Mackie was on a different level.
Jordan Obita – 7 – Obita got his wish and was pushed further forward onto the left wing and looked a threat there. He was often doubled up on by Rotherham, so only had a one-on-one situation on the rare occasion. His crossing was good and caused a lot of problems.
Glenn Murray – 7 – He didn`t get on the scoresheet, but another good centre-forward performance from the on-loan Palace man. He held the ball up very well, buying good fouls and did get the supply, but couldn`t convert a good chance in the second half.
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Michael Hector – 6 – After coming on at half-time to replace the injured Ferdinand, Hector did what was asked of him. What was slightly disappointing though was that all his clearances seemed to be rushed and didn`t want to pick out a pass, when he is capable of doing that – maybe recent mistakes have made him think otherwise.
Hope Akpan – 6 – Good shift put in by Hope in the last twenty minutes, but did lose the ball on a few occasions and was beaten too easily, picking up a yellow card.
Jake Taylor – N/A – Brought on in injury time and didn`t really have time to have any impact on the game.
