PAUL Clement aired his frustrations after Reading FC squandered a two-goal lead at Blackburn Rovers last night.
Royals were on course for a first league win of the season thanks to a Jon Dadi Bodvarsson brace in the first half.
But Clement’s men were pegged back in the second half at Ewood Park when Paul McShane conceded two penalties – both converted by Rovers skipper Charlie Mulgrew – and had to settle for a draw.
Reading remain one place off the bottom of the Championship table after four games heading into Saturday’s clash at Aston Villa, who themselves rescued a 2-2 draw with Brentford last night.
Clement said: “Maybe before the game a point here would have been a good result.
“But on reflection, we come away disappointed that we didn’t take all the points.
"You’re disappointed when you’ve gone 2-0 ahead and not come away with all three points.
“Blackburn are probably satisfied that after going two behind that they got back in it.
"I thought we were good in the first half. We had a bit of a shock early on when they hit the bar, but we went on to play really well and looked solid.
“We created chances and scored two really good goals to put us in a brilliant position.”
Royals took the lead in the 12th minute when Darragh Lenihan’s header fell short of David Raya and Bodvarsson nipped in before lobbing the Rovers keeper.
The Iceland international grabbed his second on 25 minutes with a cool finish after Raya had saved Yakou Meite’s header from a Tyler Blackett cross.
Rovers replied six minutes after the break with Mulgrew’s first penalty after McShane’s poor challenge on Elliott Bennett.
And McShane’s night went from bad to worse when he brought down Magrew 14 minutes before the end, with Rovers’ skipper slotting past Vito Mannone to deny Reading victory.
Jon Dadi Bodvarsson scored twice at Ewood Park.
Clement added: "In the second half we saw a change of style and shape from Rovers. We have to take credit for forcing them to change things.
"We dealt with similar things we faced against Bolton, a very direct style which pushed us back right onto the edge of our box.
"We did a lot of good things in the first half, but we've got to be good at adjusting to that change in style of play. Unfortunately, we didn't cope very well with that on the night.”
However, Clement insisted there were encouraging signs from his players.
"We were creating chances right to the end,” he stressed.
“Marc McNulty came on and had a fantastic chance that went just wide. I thought with that little bit of quality that we could nick it.
"So, on reflection, a point is good because we hadn’t got any and now we have one away from home. Now we move onto the next game."
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here