READING FC boss Brian McDermott was left to curse his side's back luck once again after a 3-2 defeat to Leeds United on his Elland Road return, writes Anthony Smith.

Leeds grabbed an 86th minute winner when Royals defender Jake Cooper slipped, allowing Chris Wood to run through and score.

It followed a similar pattern to Reading's defeat at title-chasing Middlesbrough last week when Matej Vydra spurned a clear-cut chance to secure a memorable victory only moments before Adam Forshaw sealed a last-gasp win for the hosts.

To add to Reading's woes, skipper Paul McShane and midfielder Danny Williams were also retrospectively banned for three matches for an ugly bust-up on the Riverside pitch.

Ex-Leeds manager McDermott admitted: "I think I must be trying to use all my bad luck up at once in these last few games of the season.

“When we came back to 2-2, we all thought we were going to win the game - but it was the same sort of thing as at Middlesbrough.

"We had a chance to win it there and ended up managing to lose it. The same happened on Saturday.

"It was just a long ball down the middle, Wood got in and scored. It's one of those things.”

Reading took a deserved lead into the break when Michael Hector tucked home an Oliver Norwood free-kick with 39 minutes gone.

Toumani Diagouraga equalised four minutes into the second half then Wood headed Leeds in front in the 69th minute.

However, substitute Deniss Rakels looked to have earned Royals at least a point when he made it 2-2 with nine minutes remaining.

But more drama followed at Elland Road when Wood punished Cooper's unfortunate mistake by bursting clear and slotting past Ali Al Habsi, who was named Reading's captain in McShane's absence.

McDermott confessed: “It's disappointing, very disappointing. But there are a lot of positives to take from the game.

“At half time we were ahead, we controlled the game. We'd had good territory, we'd played well with the ball, we'd created a couple of decent chances to get a second, and if we make it 2-0 it's a different matter altogether.

"But we're giving goals away a little bit too easily. We couldn't stop the cross for the second for example.

“It's the ugly stuff we need to be better at, and the ugly stuff we've struggled with as a club in the last four years or so."

Nevertheless, McDermott highlighted a number of positives from the defeat on his first return to Elland Road, with Reading now mathematically safe from relegation.

"We had three young boys on the bench, George Evans got an hour under his belt, it was great to see Deniss score, Lucas Piazon worked hard, the whole midfield worked hard,” he argued.

“We've got more points than we did last season and we know we'll be playing our football in this division next season which of course is important.

"And it's there to see that there's no lack of motivation from the players. If you saw the Middlesbrough game you'll know that, and then coming back to 2-2 at Leeds, that's clear to see.

"But, after all those positives, we want to be talking about a win and we're not.”

Reading have now lost three Championship matches on the spin and they face another stern test this Tuesday night when they host fourth-placed Hull City at Madejski Stadium (8pm ko).

And McDermott revealed he already has one eye on next season ahead of what is certain to be a busy summer in the transfer market.

"There was a lot of adversity last week with the frustration at Boro and, for me, a lot of good can come from adversity,” he declared.

“We all want us to do well and I know it is frustrating. That's why it's an important summer coming up.

"We're working with a lot of the lads for next season, and we've got a lot to do in the summer.

"We have lots of loan players on the books, players out of contract, so it's a big summer for us, a big summer for our football club ...and I'm looking forward to it."