The Royals’ 2024 undefeated home run has come to an end following a 3-2 loss to Shrewsbury Town at the SCL. Sam Smith and Kelvin Ehibhatiomhan scored goals for Reading in the first half, but Shrewsbury held firm to take all three points.
Reading is still in 16th place, five points above the relegation zone. Here are the words of manager Ruben Selles. He gave interviews to Wokingham Sport, Reading Chronicle, and the official club website.
Selles on the loss
It irritates me. My team started off in a pretty unusual manner; I don’t think we have seen that from the group in a very long time. We just need to get over the disappointment of giving up two goals and not doing anything throughout the opening six minutes. The manner we handle certain circumstances matters more than the objective.
After that, we demonstrated to the team our ability to score two goals: Sam scored right away, then Kelvin gave us an equaliser as we tried to extend the lead. We give up a goal just before halftime at a corner from 25 metres out.
We played the way we wanted to in the second half: we set up opportunities and missed opportunities to put the ball in the back of the net. Because of the first six minutes, the ending is incredibly disappointing and simply not possible.
Selles on giving up right before the half
Although it’s always challenging, we can win if we score in one of the circumstances in the second half (I don’t think they have many or any shots in the second half), but we weren’t able to. We have seen success over the past three or four months, and now is the day when this arrived. We must examine why we began slowly, what went wrong, and work to prevent it from happening again.
Although we produced enough to score at least one goal, I would always like more shots and more shots on goal.
Selles on our defence
We must play better defence during the game’s crucial moments. Our team losing five duels in the opening action is really unusual. Although we arrived late, we knew how to handle the problem, and the third objective remained the same. It concerns how we, as a team, can perform better.
We won’t offer justifications for the quantity of games; that was the same in the past.
“We have to realise that winning every game is essential if we are to go past the relegation zone. Just achieving success 90% of the time won’t cut it.
Selles on the fans
Both at home and away, the support has been excellent. I say that we will be prepared for the task and hope to have a sizable crowd rooting for us at every game this week. Together, we can succeed.
