Birmingham Defeat - Finishing Crucially Missing

23 April 2015
By Hob Nob Anyone?

After the excitement of taking Arsenal to extra-time at Wembley on Saturday it was back to reality with a home defeat to Birmingham on Wednesday night. Reading were already safe from relegation before the game kicked off allowing Steve Clarke to make a few changes to his side as he looked for a rare home win. Jake Cooper was given a full ninety minutes in the centre of defence and Nick Blackman was given a start up front.

Nathan Ake was given a start at left back in his final appearance for the Royals. Ake impressed during his one month loan spell but will now return to parent club Chelsea.

However, it was business as usual for Reading, as despite plenty of effort they looked unable to trouble the Birmingham defence enough. Again the Royals failed to pick up any points, and again we failed to score. This was Reading's third consecutive home league game where they had failed to find the net. Reading have been lucky that there have been worse teams below us in the table to prevent relegation ever being a serious risk this season. Next season the team will have no excuses and the fans will be expecting more.

Read the full match report and vote for your player of the match below:

After the excitement of taking Arsenal to extra-time at Wembley on Saturday it was back to reality with a home defeat to Birmingham on Wednesday night. Reading were already safe from relegation before the game kicked off allowing Steve Clarke to make a few changes to his side as he looked for a rare home win. Jake Cooper was given a full ninety minutes in the centre of defence and Nick Blackman was given a start up front.
<br/><br/>
Nathan Ake was given a start at left back in his final appearance for the Royals. Ake impressed during his one month loan spell but will now return to parent club Chelsea.
<br/><br/>
However, it was business as usual for Reading, as despite plenty of effort they looked unable to trouble the Birmingham defence enough. Again the Royals failed to pick up any points, and again we failed to score. This was Reading's third consecutive home league game where they had failed to find the net. Reading have been lucky that there have been worse teams below us in the table to prevent relegation ever being a serious risk this season. Next season the team will have no excuses and the fans will be expecting more.
<br/><br/>
Read the full match report and vote for your player of the match below:

<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.royals.org/matchreport/220415/Reading_0_Birmingham_1">Reading 0 Birmingham 1 - Read John's Match Report</a></li>
</ul>

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