PAUL Clement refused to pull his punches after Reading FC’s 1-0 home defeat to Bolton Wanderers this afternoon.

Yanic Wildschut came off the bench to notch the winner and earn former Royal Phil Parkinson a first win as manager against his old club.

Royals, however, have lost all three opening league games in their worst start to a campaign since 1959/60.

They are languishing in 23rd spot and are only off the bottom due to QPR’s inferior goal difference after their 7-1 hammering at West Brom today.

Speaking at his post-match press conference, Clement said: “I felt it was impossible that we could lose the game, never mind draw it.

“I’m very, very frustrated with the line up I chose and the way I coached the players.

"I’m frustrated with myself, the players and their inability to create better chances and the nature of the goal we conceded which was unacceptable.

“Bolton simply should not have scored from that position. It was a throw in and a chance for us to reorganise but there was a big lapse in concentration.

“When it came to us attacking, we couldn’t find what we needed which was a bit of real quality, we weren’t good enough.”

Dreadful start

Reading have won just three Championship games in 2018 and have got their season off to their worst start for 59 years.

Clement added: “I’m not going to say we were unlucky, we weren’t. We’re joint bottom because we haven’t been good enough over the three games and we need to turn it around quickly.

“We’re not picking up points whereas other teams are and we need to get a result quickly.

“Some of our football was very good today, especially in the first half. There were some nice combinations and we got in behind Bolton.

“But we needed to be better in the second half when the pressure is high and quality really matters.

“You see it a lot from teams who have inherently lost a lot of games over a long period of time.

“It was almost like ‘here we go again’ when Bolton scored. We’ve been behind a lot in games without getting back and I think it’s running through the team.

"But we have to get through that, it’s our job. We’ve got to be mentally tough to deal with adversity.”

He added: “I still have a lot of confidence in the players. They are trying hard but that’s not enough. They have to do more and I have to do more to help them find solutions.”

Flat atmosphere

Reading were booed off at the final whistle, and Clement said not blame the fans for their reaction.

“That’s down to the players,” he declared. “The atmosphere was flat because of what they were watching and the style of the opposition team – which isn’t a criticism.

“We moved the ball too slowly, we didn’t create enough and we didn’t give the fans anything to get them out of their seats.

“There were boos at the end which were normal – I felt like booing myself, both what I was seeing and booing me.

“It was really, really disappointing and we have to do much better.”

Nathan Dyer links

Clement hopes to sign an ‘offensive player’ on loan before the end of next week following strong links to Swansea winger, Nathan Dyer.

“We’re trying to do something else this week, I think that’s close,” added Clement.

“When I say an ‘offensive player’ it doesn’t necessarily mean a striker. It could be a wide player who has to defend.

“Maybe some players will go out because the squad is getting bigger."