READING FC boss Steve Clarke admitted he struggled to comprehend the reasons behind his side's second-half collapse at Fulham on Saturday.

Royals raced into a 2-0 lead when Orlando Sa netted in the 49th minute after Lucas Piazon had opened the scoring with a 13th minute strike.

But that was quickly blown apart in a 'crazy' spell that saw the Cottagers score three times in six second-half minutes.

Ross McCormack grabbed the hosts a lifeline by netting a minute after Sa had struck then Moussa Dembele made it 2-2 in the 54th minute before Alexander Kacaniklic put Fulham ahead two minutes later.

Man-of-the-match Dembele grabbed his second of the game on 74 minutes to compound Royals' frustrations.

Clarke revealed his side's capitulation left him so furious he could not even talk to his shell-shocked players after the final whistle.

He said: “It is still quite difficult to get my head around because for most of the game we were in control.

“But we had a crazy spell and Fulham scored three goals in five or six minutes.

“It turned the game on its head and we went from being a team that looked very assured and playing good attacking football, to suddenly looking very weak.

“It went from 2-1 to 2-2 and then to 2-3 very quickly, and it is uncharacteristic. It’s not the way you want your team to play; you want your team to respond better to adversity and if that’s something that we have to work on, then we start working on it immediately.”

Reading had only conceded eight goals in 12 Championship games before Saturday's clash at Craven Cottage.

Clarke stated: “We pride ourselves on being solid at the back and that we haven’t conceded many shots and haven’t conceded many goals.

“Nobody that has watched Reading this season could have said they would see a game where we would concede four goals.

“I’ll go away and do my work and assess how we are and how we played in the cold light of day, rather than now when it’s a little bit emotional.

“I didn’t trust myself to speak to the players after the game because I was so angry, so I want to watch the game again.”

Clarke made two changes to the side that drew 1-1 at Rotherham United last week with fit-again Matej Vydra replacing Garath McCleary and Jordan Obita returning in place of Andrew Taylor.

Royals flew out of the traps and went in front when a slick counter-attack saw Sa find Vydra whose first-time ball was coolly tucked away by on-loan Chelsea youngster Piazon from 12 yards.

Royals remained on top but the game was turned on it's head following a spell of four goals in seven minutes at the start of the season half – three of them to Fulham.

Royals doubled their advantage four minutes after the restart when Sa powered into the box and drilled the ball past Joe Lewis.

But, with around 4,000 Royals fans still celebrating, Fulham pulled a goal back a minute later when Ross McCormack volleyed past Ali Al Habsi.

Suddely, Fulham's tails were up and they grabbed an equaliser on 54 minutes through Dembele before Kacaniklic, who had replaced Ashley Richards in the first half, put them ahead two minutes later when he finished off a fine breakaway.

Reading did threaten to make it 3-3 but Sa was denied a penalty claim before the ex-Fulham striker saw a header cleared off the line.

But hopes of a Royals fightback were eventually dashed in the 74th minute when McCormack set up Dembele for his second of the day to make it 4-2.

Clarke confessed: “It was completely unexpected and out of the blue. But sometimes it is a little wake-up call and a reality check.

“I’ve said that we have come a long way since the summer; we changed a lot in the club and we have been riding on the crest of a wave a little bit. But this division is unforgiving and if you switch off for a moment, you can get punished.

“We have been punished and we have to take stock, reassess and look to go forward again.”

The defeat ended Reading's five-match unbeaten league run and saw them drop to seventh in the Championship table ahead of a stern test this Saturday when they host leaders Brighton & Hove Albion (3pm ko).

Fulham: Lewis, Richards (Kacaniklic, 37), Stearman, Fredericks, Cairney, Ream, Tunnicliffe, Christensen, Dembele, Husband, McCormack. Subs not used: Lonergan, Garbutt, Parker, Smith, Woodrow, Burn. Booked: Fredericks 76, Christiensen 86.

Reading: Al-Habsi, Gunter, Obita, Hector, McShane (c), Norwood (Tshibola, 70), Williams (Fernandez, 85), Piazon (John, 70), Blackman, Sa, Vydra. Subs not used: Bond, McCleary, Hurtado, Cooper. Booked: Obita 30, Gunter 39, Blackman 89.

Referee: Fred Graham.

Attendance: 18,618 (Reading 4,000).