Veljko Paunovic praises Reading fans despite protests in Coventry defeat

Posted Sunday, February 13, 2022 by PA

Under-fire Reading manager Veljko Paunovic praised his club’s fans despite their protests before and after the 3-2 Sky Bet Championship defeat at home to Coventry.

It was relegation-threatened Reading’s seventh league defeat in a row.

Lucas Joao headed home in the 23rd minute to give Reading the lead but Coventry levelled in first-half stoppage time through Dominic Hyam.

Defender Michael Rose nodded City in front early in the second period but Reading equalised through full-back Andy Yiadom.

Home winger Junior Hoilett was sent off in the 63rd minute for a second bookable offence and, two minutes later, an Ian Maatsen effort deflected in for what proved to be the Coventry winner.

About 200 supporters chanted “We want Pauno out” in a protest outside the stadium before the game, which marked the club’s 150th anniversary.

A number of fans ran on to the pitch after the final whistle to vent their anger but they were quickly ushered away by stewards.

Reading remain two points above the relegation zone.

“The fans were fantastic today,” Paunovic said. “We want to thank them for coming here in such a massive number.

“That was very helpful for the team, especially as the things developed later.”

Asked about the pre and post-match protests, Paunovic added: “I prefer to not to really comment on it. But the whole year has been difficult for the club.

“It has been very frustrating for the fans and we share that with them. But everyone has a right to express their opinion.

“We mustn’t feel sorry for ourselves. We have to regroup and move forward.”

On the result itself, Paunovic said: “It was a very good first-half performance from us, the first time for a long time.

“We played well and we took the lead. Karl (Hein) made a good save for us early on and that gave us all a boost to the players and the fans.

“I was just so upset that we conceded the equaliser just before half-time.

“We didn’t start the second half well, we had to be alert and more focused. But we didn’t keep the ball well enough.”

Coventry lie in 12th place, just five points below a play-off spot.

“From our perspective, it was three points that we can be really happy with,” Coventry manager Mark Robins said.

“Performance-wise, you could tell that we’d played 120 minutes against Southampton (in the FA Cup) last Saturday and then a tough game against Blackpool in midweek.

“This was another difficult game, more of an emotional game for Reading with a bigger crowd coming in.

“Their players responded, because their fans were behind them, and that gave them a lift.

“They’ve got really good, powerful players, too.

“They can cause you problems and they did that all day, even when they went down to 10 men.

“The game was littered with mistakes, by both teams, but we came out on top, which is good. Points are difficult to pick up in the Championship at any time.

“We’ve done really well over the past few games and had little to show for it. But today we don’t perform nearly as well as we have done and have picked up three points. It’s a bit strange, really.

“Reading had a right go, my players had a right go. In the end, it was one of those games.”