Clement calls for more resilience from his struggling Royals

Posted Sunday, August 19, 2018 by PA

Reading manager Paul Clement called on his players to be mentally stronger after they fell to a third successive Sky Bet Championship defeat – 1-0 at home to Bolton.

It is the first time Reading have lost their opening three league matches of the season since the 1959-60 campaign.

Wanderers were indebted to goalkeeper Ben Alnwick in the first period, when he made excellent saves from the long-range efforts of John Swift and Sam Baldock.

The decisive moment came three minutes after the break, when half-time substitute Yanic Wildschut finished coolly after being put through by Craig Noone.

Clement said: “Parts of our football were very good, especially in the first half. We had some nice combinations and got in behind them.

“But in the second half, when the quality really matters at the right moment and the pressure is high, that’s got to be better.

“We’ve got to be mentally tougher to deal with adversity. You’ve got to use adversity to make you stronger and better.

“At the moment, the games are ticking by and we’ve not done that. We missed a massive opportunity to kick-start our season today.”

He continued: “My feeling is that it’s impossible that we didn’t win that game, never mind draw it.

“I was very frustrated with the line-up that I chose and the way I coached the players going into the game.

“So I’m frustrated with myself and also frustrated with the players, with their inability to create better chances.

“And the nature of the goal that we conceded. That was not acceptable, it was a big lapse in concentration. It was just not good enough.

“The margins have been small in all our games but I’m not going to sit here and say we’ve been unlucky.

“We’re not unlucky. We’re joint bottom of the table because we haven’t been good enough over the three games. We’ve got to turn that round and we’ve got to do it quickly.

“The games come thick and fast and they are opportunities to take points. We’ve got to get a result.”

Unbeaten Bolton have now taken seven points from their opening three matches and manager Phil Parkinson said: “I’m absolutely delighted with that. It was a hard game and we had to push ourselves to get the result.

“They were hot, humid and sticky conditions and we’ve had to push ourselves right to the wire.

“We restricted Reading to very little and got a really good goal – a great ball by Craig Noone and a terrific finish from Yanic.

“This really gives us something to build on, even though it’s still early in the season. Psychologically, that’s a great boost for us.”

Parkinson, a former Reading captain, added: “We’re certainly not getting carried away and we’ve got to understand the effort levels required to get results in any league in England.

“It wasn’t handed to us today. We’ve really had to earn it.

“It’s important we backed up our win at West Brom [on the opening day of the season].

“We were gritty and determined today and players put their bodies on the line when they had to. That’s what you’ve got to do.

“We’re so pleased with the seven-point start. We’re not quite there yet – but we’re getting there.”