JAAP Stam bemoaned his side’s finishing after Reading FC were held to a 0-0 draw by Sheffield Wednesday.

Royals created the far better opportunities against the stubborn Owls without finding the net.

Sone Aluko, Mo Barrow and Dave Edwards were all culpable of squandering clear-cut chances as Royals were held to their first goalless draw of the season.

And Stam’s men almost paid a heavy price late on when former Royals target Jordan Rhodes was a whisker away for stealing all three points for Carlos Carvalhal’s visitors.

Stam argued: “I thought we played well and created opportunities especially in the first half.

“You could see their plans were to sit deep and knock the ball over the top for Lucas Joao to run onto.

“We were aware of their counter attack, but I thought we defended well, we didn’t give anything away.

“I don’t think Wednesday had many chances. Sometimes it looks threatening when the ball goes in front of our goal but they were nowhere near to finishing anything off.

“But we had a couple of really good opportunities through Mo, Sone and Dave. However, the only thing we didn’t manage to do was score that goal.”

Reading Chronicle:

Sone Aluko goes close for Reading in the 0-0 draw.

Reading boasted 57 per cent possession and had 16 shots during the game to Sheffield Wednesday’s five.

However, both sides managed to hit the target on only one occasion.

Barrow, who was a thorn in Wednesday’s side, spurned an excellent chance in the closing stages when he blazed over after Leandro Bacuna had dummied Jon Dadi Bodvarsson’s cross.

Stam groaned: “I think Bacuna touched the ball which deflected it a bit.

“But Sone had a very good opportunity in the first half and Mo had one at the end.

“You know that against a team like Sheffield Wednesday that it’s difficult to create opportunities, especially in the second half because they sat even deeper.

“But we still created chances and played some very good football, but you need to score to get three points.

“The players are aware of that and they are disappointed we didn’t win, but we played against a good team.

“Afterwards you can always say you deserve more but that’s football.”

He added: “The games we’ve played in the last week have been similar. We dominated and created opportunities, even against Wolves, and maybe we should have done better.

“Sometimes the opposition also have a bit of luck and sometimes we need more quality with our final pass.”

Sheffield Wednesday rarely threatened Reading’s goal, with returning keeper Vito Mannone a spectator for most of the match.

It means Royals kept a first clean sheet in 13 Championship matches and moved one place up the table to 18th.

“You can say a point against a team like Sheffield Wednesday is good and that we should be happy – and we are happy,” stated Stam.

“We kept a clean sheet but we’re always going for the win in the way we play.

“You have never seen us drop in deep this season or last season. I understand that is the strategy of some teams, but we think differently.

“We want to have the ball, go forward and create opportunities to score, but we need to score these goals.”

Reading return to Madejski Stadium on Tuesday when they host Barnsley (8pm).