Reading 0-0 Exeter City: Leggy, Last-Ditch And Lacklustre

Harry’s take as a jaded looking Reading team couldn't find a way past Exeter.

If the win at Wigan Athletic on Saturday showed all the reasons why we absolutely might be able to sneak into the top six this season - perseverance, fight and a late winner - tonight showed the reasons why that dream may be just a little bit too optimistic.

This is an extremely small, young, raw squad that is punching above its weight. Our strongest possible starting XI is a strong one and can match any team in this league - but as soon as you throw in one or two injuries we look very thin.

Lewis Wing has played every minute in the league this season, Harvey Knibbs has played every minute of the last 17 games (including 120 minutes against Burnley), Charlie Savage has played every minute of the last seven games and 17-year-old Andre Garcia has started each of the last 12 games.

It’s inevitable that footballers playing this much, in a team that relies so heavily on energy in the middle of the park, are going to have days when they look a bit tired. We saw against Shrewsbury Town a couple of games ago, we saw it again tonight and I very much doubt, even with the addition of Tom Carroll, that we won’t see it again a few more times this season.

In the first half tonight we looked the stronger team. Under Noel Hunt we don’t tend to keep the ball as much as we did when Ruben Selles was in charge so we never really dominate possession, but we were the ones getting into the more promising areas.

Billy Bodin sent a couple of dangerous deliveries into the box, and there were a few half chances here and there, but what became a recurring theme all evening was a lack of quality in front of goal when it mattered. And that goes for both reams.

By half-time it was pretty clear that one goal for either team would be enough. It was a really drab game, some may say a bit of a painful watch even. But with our recent record of popping up with important and late goals, there was a confidence there still.

But in the second half the tiredness and weariness I mentioned previously really started to show. We rode our luck on a few occasions: Amadou Mbengue sliced a clearance that looped agonisingly over Joel Pereira, only to bounce back off the crossbar, and, truthfully, if Exeter had brought their shooting boots then they go away with all three points.

However, we also popped up with some really, really key defensive interventions. And if we praise forwards scoring goals to get us a win, we have to give a shout-out to the players who save us from a loss.

Tyler Bindon saved an almost certain goal with a last-ditch tackle, Mbengue and Andy Yiadom popped up consecutively with a couple of blocks and, without really making a save of note, Pereira was really strong between the sticks I thought. The irony is that tonight was probably the most open we’ve looked defensively in a long while, yet we still managed to keep the clean sheet intact.

And while all that was happening, the players at the other end of the pitch struggled to find a way past a really well organised Exeter outfit.

Kelvin Ehibhatiomhan showed sparks when he replaced Bodin, and Andre Garcia should’ve picked out one of Lewis Knibbs or Jayden Wareham when he found himself in a promising crossing position. But other than that we were limited to speculative long-range strikes and set pieces - neither of which we could make the most of.

It’s almost a carbon copy of the Shrewsbury game in all honesty. We are going to have games like this because we are having to ask so much of such a small, inexperienced squad.

That’s not to say we can’t still get play-offs, of course we can. We’ve showed we can get results pretty much anywhere. But that shouldn’t be the threshold for us classing this as a progressive season. And we shouldn’t label performances and results like this as a ‘reality check’ or a sign of where this team really is, just as the kind of thing that’s inevitable when you’re in the position we are.

Frustrating, yes. But that's a promising sign in my opinion. Who’d have thought in August that, come the start of March, we’d be annoyed about losing a little bit of ground on the top six? As ever, perspective is needed.