Royals boss Mark Bowen says he was left pleased with the character his side showed to earn a point against Nottingham Forest at the City Ground.

Reading looked as if they could be heading for a second consecutive defeat after former Royals loanee Lewis Grabban opened the scoring for the hosts with just over ten minutes of normal time remaining.

In the 83rd minute however, substitute Sam Baldock levelled for Bowen's side to secure a hard fought point against high-flying Forest.

"I thought we edged it [the game] in terms of our play in the second half.

"We approached the game in the same way. It was nice to know a little bit more about their strengths.

"To come here tonight and approach it in the way we did, I am proud of them again.

"We were the team that was looking more comfortable in possession and like the home game, we defended resolutely in the first half.

"Yet again, we have showed our character and resilience to come back. Straight from the kick-off [after Forest scored] we dusted ourselves down and got possession of the ball again."

Bowen also expressed his delight at how his side responded to Saturday's defeat to Millwall, which he labelled as one of the two games where the players had 'let him down' since taking charge.

"There's only been two games [since taking charge] that the players have let me and themselves down, that was Birmingham City at home and Millwall on Saturday.

"I think we got wrapped up in the whole 'it's a difficult place to go' and we forgot how to play football.

"I had no doubt in my mind that in terms of performance that would change tonight. This group do not have it in their make up now to go three or four poor performances on the trot.

"They were as disappointed as me after the result on Saturday."

The Royals boss said that his sides were still aiming to reach the play-off spots, despite only picking up one point from the last two games.

"Until it's mathematically not possible, we will continue to fight for it. I don't make any apologies for saying that, because I want to give the fans hope. I'm a confirdent guy and I think we can do special things here. 

"In that respect, we got a point tonight - a good point - but I'm still disappointed because there's more catching up to do."

Finally, Bowen confirmed that he remains 'hopeful' of bringing in one or two players during the transfer window and does not expect at this point to see players depart.

"We'll keep striving and if something comes up which strengthens us I know the owners and the people in charge will try and push for it.

"I'm hopeful of getting one or two faces in. I've got strikers that have all got good ability and bring you something different on the pitch.

"Maybe, we've lost that presence of Lucas with his size and quality, so I think if we were looking at that situation, we'd be looking at that sort of ilk of a striker.

In terms of departures, Bowen said: "Nigel Howe lets me know if there are any solid enquiries which are worth mking a decision on but I've heard nothing back from him."