JAAP Stam insisted it is not in his nature to play for a draw after Reading FC were denied victory by a dramatic Cardiff City comeback.

The high-flying Bluebirds scored twice in the last eight minutes through Joe Bennett and Lee Tomlin to secure a 2-2 draw at Madejski Stadium last night.

Royals looked like they were cruising to a third successive victory when a Callum Paterson own goal and Mo Barrow strike in the first half put Stam’s men in control.

But Neil Warnock’s Bluebirds threw everything at the hosts in the second half and got their rewards, though Royals skipper Paul McShane also headed against the post from the last play of the match.

And when asked he he would have settle for a point before kick-off, Stam declared: “No, why should we?

“Why should this knock players' confidence? They did very well, they were 2-0 up. We only have the joy of one point but in this league everybody can beat everybody as we’ve shown ourselves in the past.

“The confidence in the team is there and from every game we are going to try and get the win. Sometimes you succeed, sometimes you don’t.

“But we can never before a game say, ‘we will be happy with a point,’ never.”

Reading Chronicle:

Reading players celebrate after going 1-0 up.

Early pressure from Reading paid off when Paterson headed Liam Kelly’s pin-point corner into his own net with 16 minutes gone.

Stam’s men doubled their lead four minutes before the break when Barrow’s volley from the edge of the box took a slight deflection off Bennett and flew in.

However, Bluebirds – who has lost former Reading defender Sean Morrison to injury in the 34th minute – pulled one back on 83 minutes through Bennett’s sweetly-struck volley.

And Warnock’s men nicked a point a minute into time added on when goal line technology confirmed Tomlin’s volley had crossed the line after hitting the underside of the crossbar.

To compound Reading’s frustration, McShane's header from a Dave Edwards cross struck the post with the final play of the match.

Reading Chronicle:

Mo Barrow doubled Reading's lead against Cardiff City.

Stam added: “It was very tough to take and frustrating. We didn’t do enough because we drew the game.

“We started very well and played some very good football in the first half. We scored two goals and maybe could have scored more.

“That’s not to say Cardiff didn’t create anything because they also had a couple of opportunities, they were always a threat going forward.

“When they got the ball they wanted to launch it forward as quickly as they could and use their pace and physique up front. I thought we dealt with that very well in the first half.”

Stam continued: “We were 2-0 up at half time and happy with that, but everyone knows the opposition will try and get back into the game.

“We spoke about what we had to keep doing and what to expect from Cardiff.

“But we should have scored that third goal before they got their first, then maybe the game is done, but it didn’t happen.

“Cardiff play very direct and get the balls to the sides and crosses into the box.

“You need to deal with that. Then when they got the first one the belief was there and they succeeded in getting a second as well which is very disappointing.

“Then unfortunately after that McShane hit the post in extra time.”

Reading Chronicle:

Royals striker Yann Kermorgant played the full 90 minutes as he recovers from injury.

The draw saw Reading climb to 14th in the table and 10 points adrift of the play-offs, while second-placed Cardiff closed the gap on leaders Wolves to four points.

Warnock stated: "I didn't think we started too badly in the first half, it was just two sloppy goals we conceded. That gave them a bit of a lift and to play with some freedom and we just had to hang in there.

"We felt at half-time there were more goals to be had if we could just have got the next one. I felt it was a cracking game.

"I felt we probably could have had four or five goals in the second half. I have to give the lads credit to rally and show resilience to pull it back from two goals down."