Holloway was again forced into changes as the injury list grew further after the Watford encounter. Royce was in goal behind Bignot, Evatt, Shittu and Dyer. Langley was in on the right of midfield with Doherty and Gallen in the middle and Cook on the left wing. Santos was moved into attack to partner Sturridge.

Rangers started the game sluggishly and Simon Royce was forced into an excellent save after only thirty seconds. Sloppy play from the R’s back four led to Kevin Doyle getting a free run at Royce. The keeper stood up as long as he could and Doyle could do no more than fire the ball straight at him. Rangers countered but Gallen’s through ball was too long for Sturridge to latch onto.

It was as if Rangers were still hungover from the awful defending at Watford the other night. They did try to respond though. Langley shot wide after good play from Santos up front. Georges had been deployed as an emergency front man due to the absence of Furlong and Nygaard and was trying manfully to link the play and cause a nuisance.

Only ten minutes had passed before yet more tepid defending handed Reading the opening goal. Coppell’s men worked the ball well though midfield and up to the edge of the box before a neat ball inside found James Harper strolling between the centre halves. He shot from twelve yards and Royce had little chance as the ball nestled in the back of the net.

Rangers best source of an attacking endeavour looked to be in the wide areas were Langley on the right and Dyer on the left were making some inroads. Cook was not having his best game and seemed lacking in pace but he managed to get a shot on target that Hahnemann fielded easily.

There was plenty of neat passing on show now as Rangers strived to get the ball into Santos and Sturridge. Dyer was getting past the gurning Glen Little easily and Reading skipper Graeme Murty was having a fairly torrid time as he could not cope with the little mans electrifying pace. For all the good work Reading were showing why they had only conceded two goals on the road this season. Ingimarsson was rock like at the back and needed to be next to the slightly dodgy looking Sonko.

Shortly before the break Dean Sturridge pulled up lame yet again and was replaced by Ainsworth. This meant Gallen moved up front and Langley was shifted into the centre of midfield. He now had a chance to show what he could do in the middle of the park where so many R’s fans feel he should be deployed on a regular basis.

There was little chance to do anything before the break but only minutes after it the sub made the equaliser. Ainsworth went on a typically forceful run down the right and cut inside. Gallen then got the ball and moved it onto Cook who struck a placed shot past Hahnemann and into the corner. In truth it was deserved given the balance of the play for much of the first half.

Then we had our usual moment of controversy from one of the leagues most inept officials, Tony Leake. Glen Little had been booked for a crude challenge on Langley before he then left his foot in high and late on Doherty. The second yellow was a formality but not from the depressingly weak Leake. He thought only a ticking off was needed and Coppell quickly subbed the Mr Punch look-a-like to save his man from an early bath. John Oster replaced him.

Only another three minutes had elapsed when Reading undeservedly retook the lead. They won a corner when Shittu needlessly touched a ball that he was trying to shepherd out for a goal kick. The initial kick was hacked behind by Ainsworth but the second found Ivar Ingimarsson unmarked at the near post and his header carried too much power to allow Royce to keep it out.

Rangers went straight back onto the attack but were still failing to trouble Hahnemann. Langley sent two efforts over the bar before Gallen did likewise after hooking a volley from an Ainsworth cross. Holloway decided that even though we were chasing the game there was no need to throw Stefan Moore into the fray which shows how little stock is held in the striker. Perhaps it was the kind of game that the explosive qualities of Shabazz Baidoo could have been used in but once again there was no place for him ahead of the confidence shorn Moore.

The game ended with Rangers still trying to press but not making great inroads into Reading. The Royals had won and shown exactly why they are sitting in second place behind the rampant Sheffield United. They had not played well or with any great fluency but they had still won. It was fairly reminiscent of a lot of our games when we finished second in Division 2 to gain promotion.

Rangers didn’t play badly but were lacking a cutting edge. Santos tried his heart out up front but you cannot hide the fact that he is not a striker and does not get into the box enough. Without Nygaard or Furlong we seem a bit toothless. Things were a lot better when Gallen moved up top though.

In the whole game there were five shots on target when you combine both teams’ efforts. Two for us with one goal; and three for them with two goals. We will probably play a bit worse than this and get all three points but today it just wasn’t to be.

Hopefully the break will now allow us to get some players back and fit and when we go to Plymouth in a couple of weeks we might be able to include the likes of Nygaard, Lomas and Rowlands which will only make us a stronger unit all round.

simon@qprnet.com