Church seeks winning formula

Richard Cutcher • Published 1 Nov 2011 09:00 0 Comments

SIMON Church says Reading must start turning draws into wins in order to force their way up the Championship table.

Royals' 0-0 stalemate at Crystal Palace was their third successive draw in the league and fourth in five matches.

And Saturday's result at Selhurst Park was particularly frustrating for Brian McDermott's men after Kaspars Gorkss saw what looked like a perfectly legitimate winning goal ruled out by referee Andy Woolmer in injury time.

The result extended Reading's unbeaten record to eight matches, though five draws in that run means they are in a mid-table position ahead of tonight's trip to Nottingham Forest (Tuesday, 7.45pm ko).

And striker Church admitted: "We believe we deserve to be up there a bit more but that's the way it is.

"It's a long season, it's still early days and we don't really look at the table at the moment. All we can do is focus on the next game. I know everyone says it, it might seem a bit boring, but that's all we do.

"For us it's all about winning games, and we need to start turning draws into wins."

Reading thought they had pinched a priceless victory at Selhurst Park when Gorkss found the net in injury time. However, it was scrubbed out by Woolmer for an apparent foul by Adam Le Fondre in the build-up.

However, despite Reading's clear frustrations, the Selhurst Park stalemate was not a bad result against the high-flying Eagles who have had an excellent start to the season.

And Church added: "We'll take the point. It was a frustrating game, it was a tough game to be a part of. I didn't really get that many chances, but in terms of our defence we were solid and that's the main thing.

"We got a point away from home. Crystal Palace are doing really well at the moment and we are a team in form so it was always going to be a tight game, we knew that.

"It is disappointing but at the same time we picked up a point away at a good team."

Reading can extend their unbeaten run to nine Championship games tonight when they were set to take on Steve Cotterill's Forest at the City Ground.

McDermott's men pulled off a memorable 4-3 win in the corresponding fixtures last season when Church netted a dramatic late winner.

"I think it went down as my goal, I'll take that," quipped Church following the debate over who got the vital last touch. "I tried my hardest to get it. I felt like I got a touch on it. It has gone down as my goal.

"But we have proven time after time that we can go to places like Forest and get late results. That's what we try and do. It was the same at Crystal Palace, you could see we kept on going to the end and trying and nick a goal."

Reading are likely to name an unchanged team for tonight's clash.

** ROYALS boss Brian McDermott has dismissed reports linking him with the vacant Leicester City job.

Big-spending Foxes are on the lookout for a new manager following the recent sacking of Sven-Goran Eriksson

Former England manager Eriksson signed Matt Mills from Royals for £4.5 million in the summer **

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