Charlie Adam: Fleetwood deserved their point against Reading

Posted Wednesday, February 14, 2024 by PA

Charlie Adam felt Fleetwood deserved their point after Brendan Sarpong-Wiredu’s late finish earned a dramatic 1-1 draw at home to Reading.

Deep in added time, the Fleetwood skipper popped up at the back stick to cancel out Lewis Wing’s stunning opener.

The home side may have felt aggrieved earlier when Promise Omochere’s chance seemed to have crossed the line, but neither the referee nor the assistant indicated it should be a goal.

Fleetwood manager Adam said: “A fully deserved point tonight. On the best chances of the game, I felt we had enough to win the match.

“We felt the goal was over the line. But we didn’t let our heads drop. We obviously conceded the goal, but we battled on and fully deserved that 90th-minute equaliser.

“I thought we dominated the game, I thought we had the best chances, I thought we passed the ball well but when we got in the final third in the first half, we never, our opportunities and selections were not what we wanted.

“The lads have given me everything since I’ve come in and they’ve given me everything tonight.

“We deserved that. We deserved that draw, but there are still areas we need to work on. Areas we need to get better on, and I’ll take that, the endeavour we had and the hunger we had for 96 minutes.”

Reading had chances in the first half to open the scoring. Femi Azeez was sent down the right flank after 30 minutes but the winger’s cross was too vicious for Harvey Knibbs who headed over from underneath the crossbar.

Kelvin Ehibhatiomhan also wasted a great one-on-one opportunity when he was snuffed out by Fleetwood’s Jay Lynch.

Reading boss Ruben Selles said: “We didn’t start well – the first 35 minutes we didn’t control the game the way that we wanted. They were on top of the game.

“After half-time, we controlled the game and had chances, two one-versus-ones with the goalkeeper where we needed to put the ball in the net. At the end, we concede a goal we should never concede. Frustrated at the end and we need to perform better.

“We need to know that it is difficult to go away from home and win points – we know it. Today we had it. A lot happened in the second action, a bad clearance and a bad recovery.

“They are disappointed because I think we have more to offer and for more minutes. We need to be more robust. We come from a very dark place and have some good performances; we don’t need to forget that, and we need to keep pushing. Games are close until you get the second one, so we need to keep growing.”