Reading boss Ruben Selles admitted that he was 'let down' by young duo Kelvin Ehibhatiomhan and Andre Garcia as Rotherham United came from behind to beat the 10-man Royals 2-1 at the New York Stadium.
Going ahead through Lewis Wing, Steve Evans' Millers scored through Sam Nombe and Hakeem Odoffin within 10 minutes of the restart to turn the game on its head.
With 20 minutes to go, Ehibhatiomhan was sent off for getting involved in an altercation after a heavy tackle on Garcia.
However, 16-year-old Garcia appeared to be the main culprit and was also already carrying a booking.
Speaking after the defeat, Selles admitted that both had let him down.
"It is a clear mistake from both of them and they have both let us down- it doesn’t matter who got the second yellow. It was Kelvin on the referee's diagonal so I think he thinks he pushes him harder. I think we need to learn from the mistake.
"It was clear as soon as the opposition player felt the contact that he would fall down and try to get it because he knew both of them were with a yellow card. It is not acceptable from Kelvin or Andre."
Frustrated to lose after going ahead, Selles was happy with the team's energy but admitted it still was 'not good enough.'
"I think we controlled the first half," he admitted. "We came here to try and play our game and created situations, scored the goal and limited the opposition. The first 10 minutes of the second half we didn’t do what we needed to do to keep the tempo down and make our moment on the game.
"With the second yellow for Kelvin, it became difficult, but we still had the chance at the end when we pushed. We made a great effort, but it was not good enough."
Without a win on the road this season, and with only four in over a year under the Spaniard, he called for things to change.
"At the end of the last season, we had some decent games away. We had some difficult opponents- Wrexham and Bolton are difficult to beat but those games were more ourselves not giving us the platform or opportunity to compete. The Birmingham game we should have won so that would change the dynamic and perception.
"Today, we gave ourselves the platform in the first half, we were the team we wanted to be, but it is not enough. We need to take responsibility and try to find strategies, mentalities and football situations to make us win matches away."
Reading travel to Cheltenham Town in the EFL Trophy on Tuesday evening and don't return to League One action for 10 days.
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