Royals fail to beat basement boys

Reading could only draw with lowly Charlton Athletic last night and consequently lost the opportunity to gain ground on Bongo and Wolves. This was another poor performance at home, and I'll review it by rating each player with a brief comment on their performance.

Federici

Not much to do, but culpable for their second goal and looked a little uncertain at times.

Armstrong

Fine.

Duberry

Rubbish and surely cannot keep Bikey out of the side for much longer.
Prone to excessive hoofing. At fault for the late equaliser.

Pearce

Looking more assured as time goes by; easily one of our better players yesterday.

Rosenior

Another horror show. Poor distribution the sum of which was aimless lumping up the channel. At fault for the late equaliser. 

Hunt

Not good enough once again. Rightly removed to make way for....

Tabb

Can do everything Hunt can't at the moment. Enthusiastic, lively and bagged an assist for Long's second.

Matejovsky

Engimatic. Some good flourishes but drifted out of it and looked disinterested towards the end.

Cisse

Anonymous in the first half; performed well in the second and got stuck in. Made way for...

Harper

Not really enough time to make an impression.

Little

A first half performance that reminded us what we've been missing. Went looking for work and used the ball efficiently and sensibly. Predictably faded in the second half but a welcome and generally impressive return. Alarming how much better he looked than most of the other players. 

Doyle

Contributed very little, an off day.

Long

I've been critical but took his goals well and was a threat at times. Deserves the nod ahead of...

Hunt Jr.

A five minute cameo, did nothing wrong.

Frustrating once again. We really have to start winning at home soon.

Kitson back on loan too!!!

Another rumour becomes reality as Dave Kitson returns to the Royals on loan until the end of the season. I'm excited. A target man of his ilk could be just what we need. More here from the BBC

Little back on loan!

Rumours were rife, but it's now official: Glen Little has returned to the Royals on loan until the end of the season. He's already trained with the squad this morning, and will be available for the visit of Charlton on Tuesday. He told the official website:

"I'm really looking forward to it; it should be an exciting end to the season and I'll do everything I can to try to help Reading get back into the Premier League.

"I'm fit and have been training every week, but just haven't had the opportunity to play at Portsmouth since Boxing Day which has been frustrating.

This has to be great news for Reading FC, a firm favourite of the fans, it will be fantastic to see him marauding down the right wing again. Despite Jimmy Kebe's goal yesterday he's had a poor run of form and we certainly need options there. I expect Little to be eased in as an 'impact sub' rather than an automatic starter. Let's hope he can recreate some of the form that he showed during those halcyon days!

Royals fight back to earn point at Plymouth

A bit of momentum then. We dared to hope that we could regain some form on our travels, and a spririted fight back at Home Park saw the Royals take another positive step towards promotion. Alex Pearce and Jimmy Kebe equalised in each half, but by the end of the match we were the team looking for a winner. Even though Bongo and Wolves won we still have games in hand, and more importantly it looks like we've turned a corner. With basement boys Charlton the visitors to the Stade de Mad on Tuesday night we've got a perfect opportunity to start winning at home again.