'We weren't at our best' says Reading boss after Shrewsbury Town draw
Reading boss Noel Hunt admitted that his side were 'not at our best' in a 1-1 draw with relegation-threatened Shrewsbury Town.
The Royals took the lead in the first half through Jayden Wareham- after Joel Pereira saved John Marquis' penalty- but Taylor Perry deservedly equalised for the Shrews to even the scores. Unable to carve many clear-cut chances, the final whistle was met with boos from the sub-8,000 crowd at the SCL Stadium.
Speaking to the media after the game, a third match unbeaten, Hunt said: "We know we weren’t at our best tonight. Decision-making was different to what it was on Saturday. We’re frustrated but it’s a point, we take it and move on. It’s never going to be perfect every weekend, but you can sense the boys’ disappointment.
"Maybe our lack of bravery at times to get it down and play, we hooked on too many things we didn’t need to, and we needed the composure to find the out pass. We have shown them a few pictures on the TV, and it looks obvious but when you’re out there it’s a bit different. We had some opportunities in the second half, there was a ball across the box that I expect us to be in to score and these little moments matter when it’s tight and scrappy.
"We were a little too eager and too keen to race to the pass when we have to have composure around the box, especially when teams defend deep and have a line of five and two- seven to break down. The timing of runs and weight of pass is key, but we have a young group. We have to keep going with them and keep making it as familiar as we can to them and hopefully it will turn."
In the thick of a heavy run of fixtures, Rotherham United visit the SCL Stadium on Saturday.
"We’re in the trenches," Hunt added. "We know that we are going to get frustrated- sometimes the most consistent thing is inconsistency with the team so young- but we have to embrace it and dig deep. Today we showed good character to stay in it as they are a side that can really turn the pressure, and we kept them out of our box. We tried to keep the ball in our possession as much as we could, we could have done it better, but it is a good test for Saturday."
