3/10 Drinkwater struggles desperately in Reading FC defeat

Luke Southwood - 4

Made a few decent saves - one in particular to deny Sorba Thomas in the second half and keep Reading in the game. But ultimately, goalkeepers tend to get judged on their mistakes and Southwood made a big one to gift Huddersfield their third goal. No debate that he deserves to keep the number one job, but needs to clean up the errors that have been a bit too frequent recently.

Andy Yiadom - 5

A huge boost for Reading to have Yiadom back, he was solid if unspectacular. Not really at fault individually for any of the four goals but when your defence concedes four and looks as if they could concede many more, no defender can get high marks. A few decent crosses but not quite enough when Reading were chasing late on.

Michael Morrison - 6

Certainly gave his all as he fought all afternoon long. Popped up with the equaliser to make it 3-3 but again, was part of a defence that folded much too easily. The captain of the moment was likely the best of the lot.

Michael Morrison celebrates his goal. Image by: JasonPIX

Tom Holmes - 5

Missed a few half chances from set-pieces but wasn’t individually at fault for any of the Huddersfield goals. All just far too frantic at the back though from Holmes and his fellow defenders.

Baba Rahman - 4

Terrific assist for the opening goal and gave Reading a new dimension going forward. But was out of position far too much both when the Royals were in a back five and back four as Huddersfield sliced them open with ease. 

Danny Drinkwater - 3

At half-time this rating would have been a ‘1’ as Drinkwater was absolutely eaten alive by Huddersfield as the Terriers countered right through the heart of Reading with every opportunity. Hardh to place the blame solely on Drinkwater but Reading needed a big performance from their holding midfielder and they got the opposite. Slightly better after the break as Reading got on the ball more allowing Drinkwater to utilise his passing.

Josh Laurent - 5

Started as a third central defender but ended up playing most of the game in midfield. Reading looked slightly more assured with him next to Drinkwater but Laurent just didn’t impact the game enough. At least partly at fault for Huddersfield’s second goal as he didn’t step up quick enough allowing Ward to collect and finish in the box.

Andy Rinomhota - 6

A ball of energy, Rinomhota covered every blade of grass as he worked tirelessly to support the defence and attack. A number of crunching tackles and decent forward passes but couldn’t quite find the opening when he had the ball at his feet.

John Swift - 5

One terrific through ball to Puscas for Swift’s tenth assist of the season but too quiet other than that. Tried to make something happen with a few shots from distance but didn’t connect with any of them.

George Puscas - 7

George Puscas celebrates his goal. Image by: JasonPIX

A truly excellent performance from the much-maligned centre-forward. Puscas worked his socks off for the full 90 minutes, battling for every ball and making things extremely uncomfortable for the Huddersfield defence. Deserved his goal. Hopefully the start of something. Maybe he’s just needed a striker partner?

Lucas Joao - 6

Took his goal superbly and had plenty of nice touches in the first half but faded in the second as Huddersfield manahed to mark him out of the game for the most part. Quite possibly tired considering he hasn’t started since August. Still, a promising performance.

Substitutes

Junior Hoilett - 5

Came on with 15 minutes to play but didn’t do much as Reading chased an equaliser. Back from a hamstring injury picked up against Middleesbrough. 

Tom Dele-Bashiru - N/A

Replaced Drinkwater in the 86th minute - not on for long enough to be properly judged.

Jahmari Clarke - N/A

Came on for Tom Holmes deep into stoppage time. Not sure he actually touched the ball.