McDermott reacts after boo-boys turn on Mills

Anthony Smith • Published 17 Mar 2010 09:00 0 Comments

ROYALS boss Brian McDermott launch a staunch defence of Matt Mills after the player was barracked during Tuesday's 1-0 victory against QPR.

Gylfi Sigurdsson's dramatic 86th minute penalty made it six home league wins in a row for rampant Reading against Neil Warnock's 10-man Rangers.

But Mills, 23, was booed by Royals fans after a few long balls to Jimmy Kebe went astray.

The £2 million Doncaster Rovers signing then appeared to make a gesture in the direction of supporters and refused to applaud them at the final whistle.

He stormed off down the tunnel without shaking anyone's hand and later declined media interviews.

But McDermott, who remains unbeaten at the Madejski Stadium in the Championship, said: "The crowd were frustrated and we were all getting edgy.

"When you play against a resilient side like QPR it's never going to be easy to break them down.

"I asked Matt to hit some diagonal balls and he's hit some fantastic ones, and one that hasn't come off.

"He's got a little frustrated, we don't want to see that but toward the end the fans shouted his name and I was pleased with that.

"It's a passionate game, Matt Mills is passionate, our crowd are passionate, I'm passionate and we want to win games.

"We've had eight wins out of nine and he's been involved in every single one, he's been outstanding.

"Matt has been inspirational at the back and he was terrific again, but we was disappointed and frustrated like everyone. We need the crowd onside."

Rangers saw Damion Stewart sent off for two yellow cards just before the break.

Sigurdsson's penalty was his 13th goal of the season as Reading moved up to 14th and within reach of the play-offs, with a tough trip to Middlesbrough this Saturday (3pm).

WERE YOU AT TUESDAY NIGHT'S GAME? DID YOU BOO MATT MILLS?

Then tell us why and we'll print your responses in Thursday's Reading Chronicle....

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