Reading FC boss Veljko Paunovic bemoaned his side's performance in front of goal after they fell to a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Wycombe Wanderers on Tuesday evening.

A Lucas Joao penalty miss compounded the misery for a below-par Royals side, who have now won just once in the last six games. 

Speaking after the game, the Royals boss said: "The execution wasn't good. This is something that we've been very good at so far, but today we fell short in that side of the game.

"I think we all can look at the game and acknowledge we can do better. I'm sure they all tried their best, they care. I can see it in their eyes, sometimes you don't have a good game.

"We all have to improve.

"We had some chances after the penalty, but we have to acknowledge our opponents for what they did stopping us from scoring goals.

"We also have to be sharper in our finishing and that comes down to repetition which we don't have time to do but training is fundamental.

Many Royals fans questioned the decision to play a seemingly negative line-up against a side who have struggled to keep clean sheets so far this season.

Explaining the decision, Paunovic said: "We had four centre backs who are capable of playing good balls and playing out so I think that worked pretty well.

"The goal we conceded is a bit of over-commitment to their long balls, we can do better there.

"Other than that, I do not think they were really a threat for us. Once we managed to put the ball on the ground the game was absolutely in our control.

"After the goal and the penalty, I think kept our patience and structure well.

"But, when you make changes, you lose that. The game became more hectic and you take risks - we put more attacking players on and at the end we were playing one on one at the back.

"I think that Plan B, when you make a change, the substitute has different properties.

"We're looking to implement those qualities of those players to fit the way we want to play.

"It is always give and take, you know that you're going to get something but you may lose something else.

We still have to keep developing, keep supporting our guys - I know we're going to bounce back. We're just in a bad strech at the moment. 

"They [the players] care a lot, We have guys crying in the changing room. We have guys really committed and you can't ask for more. But, we have to keep improving."

On the subject of Lucas Joao's penalty record, Paunovic said: "I think it's something we have to fix and we will look at it.

"We get a lot of penalties with the way we play, we challenge our opponents and get in the box. We can't afford to miss them."

On the subject of the recent form, Paunovic said: "I think that from my coaching point of view, you have to score your goals.

"You can't allow teams to get their momentum and let them get you off their neck.

"We had opportunities to score. When you fail in all this, you have to expect that the other team is going to come back.

"We tried, we had opportunities. We failed that one. We have to be clinical."

"The mentality is built and has to be nourished. We do a lot of meetings about that, the reaction has been positive.

"We have to acknowledge we have to improve and the right mentality is to think we're not still the team that can come back after certain adversities.

"We still have to build and grow our mindset to be confident. This team can do it and play good football."