Reading FC manager Veljko Paunovic remained in a defiant mood as he once again faced questions about his job security following a second embarrassing defeat in four days.

On Saturday his Royals side was dumped out of the FA Cup by sixth-tier minnows Kidderminster Harriers before being thrashed 7-0 by Fulham on Tuesday night.

The evening started badly with Josh Laurent gifting Harry Wilson the opener after 13 minutes before an Aleksandar Mitrovic penalty made it 2-0 at half-time.

But after the break Reading fully capitulated, conceding five times in the final half an hour.

Asked whether he would still be in the job for Reading’s next game Paunovic responded:

“That's a very cynical question. It's not what I think about that. I think about the team and group.

“Everybody is given a very difficult task. We are now blamed for something we haven't done and we are here coming to help and give people our best.

“Now we are thrown under the bus. It's not an easy task but we are going to keep going. I believe in the group and saw how difficult it was for them.”

Reading Chronicle: Paunovic argues with the referee at half-time in his side's loss to Fulham. Image by: JasonPIXPaunovic argues with the referee at half-time in his side's loss to Fulham. Image by: JasonPIX

Naturally, supporters were left questioning the team’s commitment but Paunovic insists that his players didn’t give up at any point in the crushing defeat.

“Some people may think differently but I saw they gave it their all,” he continued. “The only issue with that is you have to give that in a frame of the team and not on your own.

“It's a good intention but it wasn't done in the right way. We wanted to fight back and we saw a lot of refusal in our players.

“We wanted to go forward and get on the ball but it was individual actions. It has to come as a group and we didn't regroup well.”