Coppell rues the 'wind factor' as Royals limp towards the play-offs

Steve Coppell isn't usually one to employ fanciful excuses to defend his charges, but after a woeful seond half capitulation to lowly Blackpool he clearly felt the need for a change of tact. The gaffer bizarrely declared the wind to be 'a factor' when quizzed about the performance on BBC Radio Berkshire. At least he had the honesty to admit that it affected both teams in the same way. Maybe he was vainly searching for an explanation as to why his team contrived to surrender a hard-earned first half lead so meekly. The travelling contingent were left rubbing their hands with glee rather than in any reaction to the bracing sea breeze after Noel Hunt and the recalled Jem Karacan had scored to send the Royals in to the dressing room with a deserved advantage. The game was there for the taking despite the home side pulling a goal back before the interval. With the other promotion-chasing teams failing to take control of their own games we might have dared to believe we had been thrown a lifeline. Suddenly all was not lost: take the points here as we surely will and it's game back on! Unfortunately not. By most accounts the Royals barely strung two passes together in the second half, to summarise they were utterly wretched. Cue some poor defending and Blackpool were level, game effectively over. Despite Bongo and Sheffield United faling to win we are now seven points behind the second automatic spot, and Cardiff City's win over Burnley means we're stuck in 5th. Crucially, Swansea City are 5 points behind us in 7th (but have played a game more) .This effectively means that realistically we need 4 points from 12 to take a play-off spot (mathematically we'd need a point more, but our goal difference is vastly superior...yes, it's true!). This should be achievable even for this team playing in this way. Bring it on, at least then we can start the season all over again.