Pardew: In Our Half We Wobbled, In The Final Third We Fell

Last updated : 22 December 2002 By Rob Cooper
The Royals yesterday fell to their second successive defeat, goals from David Johnson and Marlon Harewood gave Play-Off rivals Nottingham Forest a vital victory.

After going seven consecutive matches without conceding Reading have now conceded four times in two games as the sucess of November is increasingly confined to the past.

The bad news didn't end there - influential striker Nicky Forster limped off after just half an hour with a hamstring injury. From that point on Reading's good play in the final third diminished.

"Probably the biggest problem today was the loss of Fozzy," admitted Pardew.

"We struggled to get a cutting edge throughout the game. Tyson and Igoe came here today to threaten the wide roles, we wanted more product there. Unfortunately Tys had to play Fozzy's role.

"Forster has injured his hamstring, but we don't know how bad it is at the moment.

"I felt we played with high confidence, and at times our players did well, but in the final third we fell down."

Defensively the Royals were unable to reach anything like the level they were at when Arsenal centre-back Matthew Upson was in the back-line a few weeks ago. In the end Reading were beaten by two sloppy avoidable goals.

However, a 2-0 scoreline flattered Reading who could easily have lost by four of five. Indeed, Forest efforts pinged against Marcus Hahnemann's crossbar on two occasions.

Pardew added: "Although Forest moved us about early on I didn't feel too threatened. The first goal came from a lost tackle, and the second, which killed the game, came from a shanked clearance by Marcus which is unusual because he's usually superb in that respect."

The Royals, who have won just one point from their last nine after winning secen successive matches, will hope to get back to winning ways in Boxing Day's high-noon showdown with Coventry on Boxing Day.