BRIAN McDermott claims Deniss Rakels should have been awarded a penalty on his Reading FC debut in Saturday's stalemate against Wolverhampton Wanderers, writes Anthony Smith.

The Latvia striker appeared to collide with Wolves centre-back Danny Batth just outside the six yard box in the 90th minute.

Rakels, a £400,000 January signing from Polish club Cracovia, was goalside of the Wolves skipper and was about to pull the trigger when he was sent crashing to the turf.

But nothing was given by referee Tony Harrington and both sides had to settle for a point from a scrappy 0-0 draw.

However, McDermott feels Royals should have been given the opportunity to nick a last-gasp victory from the penalty spot.

He said: “Deniss Rakels came on to make his debut and I thought he looked bright.

“He had a shout for a penalty at the end and, if it falls for him there, he scores.

“It’s difficult to see, but there must have been some contact that has brought him down.”

Both teams struggled to adapt to the strong winds and driving rain at Madejski Stadium on Saturday.

Former Royal James Henry, who scored against Reading at Molineux in their 1-0 win on Boxing Day, hit the post in the first half for Kenny Jackett's side.

The Woodley-born midfielder was also denied by Royals stopper Ali Al Habsi on several occasions.

Al Habsi had an excellent game between the sticks and made a terrific save to thwart Bjorn Sigurdarson before recovering to smother a Henry effort after the Wolves player took one too many touches after intercepting a Chris Gunter headed backpass.

Reading skipper Paul McShane also made a vital block to deny the same Wolves player a certain goal late in the game.

Meanwhile, McDermott's men looked a threat in patches with Hal Robson-Kanu, Yann Kermorgant and Jake Cooper going close in the first half.

Ola John, Oliver Norwood and Robson-Kanu had further chances after the break before a strong finish from McDermott's men saw Rakels denied a penalty and Kermorgant shoot inches wide at the very death.

Royals' boss added: “It was a tough game, a real battle in horrible conditions.

“It was a tight game with both sides giving it their all. Wolves were never going to come here and lie down and just let us attack in an open game. It’s not how it works.

“They played with a lot of players across the midfield, sat deep and made it really difficult for us – and we couldn’t quite break them down.

“We needed to score that goal and if we could have found a way through, they would have had to come out a bit more. But they were well organised, Kenny’s got them well-drilled and you have to play the conditions.

“You want to win your home games. But sometimes you have to be pleased to keep a clean sheet and take a point.

“We got beat late, late on against Ipswich in midweek and now we’ve kept a clean sheet and we’ve got a result.”

Reading have now won just two of their last 13 Championship matches and sit 15th place in the table.

“It’s February in the Championship - one of the toughest leagues in the world,” continued McDermott. “You are going to get these sorts of games. But when it’s tight at 0-0, you have to make sure you pick up a result.

“Ali made a great save, Paul McShane made a really, really good block as well.
“It wasn’t great to watch, but it's a clean sheet, a resilient well-earned point and we move on.”

Wolves boss Jackett argued: "It was a hard battle but it was a good performance from us.

"We controlled long spells of the game but couldn't quite get that goal."

Reading are back in action at Madejski Stadium this Saturday when they host third-placed Burnley (3pm ko).

  • READING midfielder Aaron Tshibola, 21, could miss the rest of the season following an operation on his hamstring last week.