READING FC fell to the bottom of the Championship table after losing at home to Sheffield Wednesday.
Last Saturday's 2-1 reverse was their fourth loss in six league games this season leaving boss Paul Clement under pressure.
Adam Reach fired the Owls ahead on 12 minutes before Lucas Joao added a second 14 seconds into the second half.
Skipper-for-the-day Liam Moore pulled one back on 64 minutes but it proved a mere consolation on another frustrating day for Royals fans.
Here, Jim Tatum, explores what went wrong and what must be done to put things right.
1. Sloppy starts
Reading conceded just 14 seconds after the restart, in similar fashion to their last home game against Bolton. In previous cases the goals came from simple errors and ultimately proved to be decisive. Paul Clement will need to find a solution quickly.
2. When they go behind, they lose
Clement admits there is a sense of doom when his team go behind. The sinking feeling Clement alluded to was there again after Sheffield Wednesday took the lead on Saturday. It just never felt like Reading were going to get back into it.
Mo Barrow keeps close table on an Owls opponent.
3. Opponents scoring too easily
Possibly the most glaring problem is that Royals allow teams to score without sustaining any serious pressure. Royals had most of the play on Saturday, but went behind to Wednesday’s first meaningful attacks at the start of each half.
4. Supply is poor as well as finishing
The forwards have come in for stick, but it is not just their struggles that make Reading so toothless.
Against Wednesday the Royals got into several good crossing positions, but every time the delivery was extremely poor, with Chris Gunter being especially culpable. If the strikers are to increase their goal tallies, the service needs to be much better.
Chris Gunter tries to pick a pass against Sheffield Wednesday.
5. Scared to shoot
For a team struggling to get the ball into the box, Reading players are also unwilling to try their luck from outside the area and look frightened to shoot. More worryingly, it might be that they simply don’t have anybody capable of scoring from outside the area.
Reading return to Championship action after the international break with a trip to Preston on September 15.
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