Boss Paul Jewell admitted that his side were soundly beaten as Reading left Portman Road with a 3-1 victory. The Town manager was at a loss to explain such a muted performance.

Jewell said: “It was so flat it was unbelievable. I’m at a loss to explain that. The one thing we’ve had in most of the games is endeavour, I’m not saying there was no endeavour, we just looked flat, we looked leggy and we looked tired.

“I’m not using that as an excuse because they’ve had as many games as us, they were better than us in all areas tonight and we were soundly beaten.”

The Blues boss says losing Jimmy Bullard to a hamstring injury was a blow but that the rest of the side failed to match their previous performances: “Jimmy has a hamstring injury. He had a fitness test this morning and we were quite hopeful he might come through, he was a bit tight after the game on Saturday.

“He had the test this morning and when he went into a 60% run he could feel it. You just can’t play with a hamstring, so it was a disappointment to lose him, but we’ve got to do better than we did tonight.

“I think losing Jimmy was a huge loss to us but there didn’t seem any spark to the team at all tonight from anybody.

“We were flat, were second to every ball. The first goal was disappointing and was always going to be key. We never really put enough pressure on our goal, and they always looked a threat.”

Town had one or two chances in the second half, but Jewell admitted that his side deserved little from the game: “It would have been masking a multitude of sins. I think you’ve always got to be honest, and we just didn’t play well enough tonight.”

Reading boss Brian McDermott was delighted with his side’s performance: “That’s as a good an away performance as you’ll see in the Championship, let alone Reading.

“As we didn’t have Jimmy Kebe, Jay Tabb and Jobi McAnuff we played a different way tonight and everyone carried out their jobs really well. With 10 minutes left we changed back to 4-4-2 and we got the two late goals, which were very useful.”

Photo: Action Images

hogster1970 added 23:00 - Mar 8 well at least you are honest paul, and yes very poor was a understaement, but hey ho roll on sat
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tractorblue99 added 23:01 - Mar 8 So many chances but no one to put them away. This again proves why we need a striker who can actually score. Anyone know why fulop was so bad today after such a good game against cardiff. We are proving to be very inconsistent.
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bluelady added 23:03 - Mar 8 Hogster agreed heard radio interview he was brutally honest no excuses just said it as it was, we were not good enough end of!!! Differant team to the won that lost to Portsmouth, looked shakey, nervous sloppy passing as Jim would say and we lacked quality.... jewell has a big job in the summer but I for one am behind him!!
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bluelady added 23:10 - Mar 8 Oh and Brian trust me you werent that good we just made you look good!
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the_gospel added 23:11 - Mar 8 poo
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brogansnose added 23:19 - Mar 8 Yes Bluelady- we did make them look good as we have done a lot of teams this season. If you keep giving the ball away thats what happens. Are these the same players that are looking for new contracts?
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WarkyWonderLand added 23:28 - Mar 8 We the fans were as flat as the team and that was even before they scored. We need to play our part too. Success isn't instant and I know where I would rather be compared to Sheff Utd!! If people listened to PJ and bought into it then perhaps our expectations wouldn't be to win every game. All fans at all clubs moan and thats their perogative. Given the dire mess our club and team has been in over the last 2 years the green shoots of recovery are there. Patience is a virtue, we should have more. COYB

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power19 added 23:30 - Mar 8 What a disappointment after a number of good performances - I thought I was back in the Keane era watching tonights match. Leadbitter was the only player who tried to ignite any spark and it is an understatement to say that Bullard was missed! As Bluelady - I am totally behind PJ but please, please try something different up front; Wickham as as CF or a 4-4-2. Our season is technically over i.e. we're not going up or down so I would use the run in to have a bit of an experiement before writing players off who may do a job for us if used different e.g. Scotland.

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MVBlue added 23:39 - Mar 8 Reading manager is a clever guy. They beat Everton the other week, they could well go up. A wake up call to what the team might be like with match winner Bullard.
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Wacko added 23:46 - Mar 8 No they were really good and were at us from the start which forced us to play poorly - so much pressure on our defence who aren't skilful enough to pass it around the back. That brought repercussions to the rest of the team. All in all a fantastic away performance
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power19 added 23:50 - Mar 8 wacko - they might be on a good run of form but QPR they ain't! We made them look good!
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Garv added 23:50 - Mar 8 Can't agree bluelady, one of the best away displays I've seen at Portman road this season if I'm honest. Can't remember the last team to come here and press the ball when they havnt got like reading did tonight. Shane Long is just the player we havnt got, great skill on the ball, one of the only strikers to come here and give McAuley and Delaney real trouble in the air (and he's not even that big) and a good finish. There is and I think will be an over-reaction about tonight but I honestly think reading were as good as we were poor. It showed how much we rely on Jimmy Bullard. I don't want to say it but I have to, Norris showed tonight how limited he is, he can't hit s mean volley inside the box (donny at home) but how slow is he? Unbelievably off the pace tonight and in truth has been a lot of the season to be honest. Strange thing is though he could have a blinder on Saturday and ill be chanting sign him up! Don't think we should be too disheartened by tonight. Great goal from Connor by the way.

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Garv added 23:54 - Mar 8 He *can* hit a mean volley sorry.
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Wacko added 00:04 - Mar 9 power 19 - they're not QPR no but they're a team and everyone seemed to know exactly what they were doing. plus we played a lot better against qpr than we did them!
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bluethroughnthrough added 00:21 - Mar 9 JEWELL OUT
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roytheboy added 00:27 - Mar 9 Scotland up front on his own is not going to get us goals, he's too slow, seldom manages to control the ball with his first touch and is not brilliant with his head either, all of which he needs to be if we are to keep playing that boring long ball in the air game, he does have quality as we've seen, but Priskin is the better player to play on his own at the front in my opinion, I was generally very disappointed with the whole team tonight, I would have expected more quality from Wickham than we saw and in my opinion our best players were probably the subs. in particular some nice touches from Chivelli, let's hope they play better than that Saturday.

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bobble added 04:55 - Mar 9 ouch those marks across my behind are going to take a while to heal 'but it would have hurt a lot more if we had been relegated this year..mr jewel has done his job kept us up and turned the performances around mostly now he just needs to get his own men in to take us up.......should be able to sit down again by friday
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floridaboy added 06:48 - Mar 9 Lets be honest here. Reading are a good side and showed Town how to play football Bit shocked that we played so bad after Saturday. Yes we were missing Bullard but come on, one player does not make a side. For me PJ needs to look at a new midfield trio. If he can sign Bullard then he needs to get in two more. Leadbitter and Norris are basically not good enough. Both have had poor seasons IMHO. Need players in midfield who can play the ball around and not just run around like headless chickens I am sure PJ will sort it out over the summer and get in who he knows will push the club forward and challenge at the top next season

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muhrensleftfoot added 06:52 - Mar 9 Shows how much we've still got to go before we can even think of challenging for the Premier. Norris & Leadbitter are so limited in their vision, & no-one from our side was trying to boss the midfield. Bullard was a big loss, but probably Kennedy too as these are the only guys who show leadership. I know PJ has improved things a lot, but I think it is a mistake playing just 1 man up front at home. We looked better when we went 4-4-2. Leave the 4-5-1 for away games. We shouldn't be trying to pack the midfield and just attack on the break when we're at home. Thought Edwards was very poor, and Martin was busy but ineffective. Wickham also totally ineffective until he went up front.

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DiamondGezzer added 07:07 - Mar 9 I really do wonder how many out of contract players will be offered new contracts in summer ? From game to game, the inconsistancey is there for all to see. I'm not moaning, its just an observation. Also, as I posted before, I wonder if offering Jimmy Bullard the captaincy may sway a deal. At least Norris could then concentrate on his own performance, which I think has certainly dropped. As suggested, maybe he's still injured. Roll on Saturday - COYB.

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Suffolk_n_Good added 08:36 - Mar 9 So disappointed last night, I agree with Diamond Gezzer, it does make you wonder how many of the out of contract players will be re-signed, we see this inconsistancy all to often at ITFC, certain players having 1 really good game in about 5 appearances, clearly changes need to be made in the summer, & I believe PJ will do that (as long as he gets MEs backing) I think we have to many fringe players that will never really get us promotion, Jewell must look at his bench sometimes & be at a loss as to who he can bring on to change the game, we all know we need to strengthen up front, but IMO we need 3 new strikers!!! Ok, thats unlikely to happen, i'd let Scotland & Priskin go, along with Counago & Lisbie, we lack pace (other than Wickham) it's ok having someone to hold the ball up, but we desperately need a Shane Long type player or 2!! Roll on the summer changes COYBs!

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BlooooCD added 08:47 - Mar 9 A fair response from the Guv'nor! Just disappointed I suppose with the lack of effort and apparent ability! I see Scotland got EADT MOTM!!! I thought he had an awful game... every ball that went to him looked similar to one that had been kicked against a brick wall. I thought his control was awful and each time he was passed to the ball bounced 10feet away from him! Anyway onward we march to Saturday... What a difference a bit of bully makes! COYB's!

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Blandford added 08:55 - Mar 9 Last night performance was not good, but hopefully it did demonstrate that PJ needs the financial support of Mr Evans if we are to improve. Jimmy Bullard may have only just arrived but I believe he has done more to earn a contract with us than many, if not all, of the out-of-contract players we have - unfortunately I doubt our apparent wages structure will allow such a deal. Even so we need a busy Summer in the transfer market (not just rumours and empty promises this time but action) if we are to compete with the top Championship sides.

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dirtyboy added 09:18 - Mar 9 I thought Reading were very good, well organised, no outstanding individuals, just a solid team who outworked and outplayed us. We by comparrison were poor by our recent standards, Norris wasn't really at the races, Leadbitter had a great workrate, but just isn't crisp enough in his passing, just lacking a bit of creativity. Don't want to single out players though, as the whole team didn't perform, Scotland did well for his time on the pitch, as did McAuley, but otherwise, poor all over unfortunately. There seemed to be a massive gap between the defence and midfield, perhaps Drury was meant to fill that gap and that's why he was taken off, as he didn't play poorly, was just isolated when he got the ball with little movement around him. Just one of those nights unfortunately. Roll on Saturday.

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JewellintheTown added 09:20 - Mar 9 Three Irish players scored? Has Keano been buying up players for Reading now? Oh, no, hang on, they won.
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