Former Reading captain and manager Mick Gooding has labelled their start to the League One season as 'a bit of an embarrassment following a 4-0 defeat to Charlton Athletic.

The Royals, who were relegated to the third tier last season, have started their first League One campaign in 22 years with eight defeats out of 12.

Sitting second-from-bottom and already five points adrift from safety, they face Fleetwood Town tomorrow, who sit immediately above them in the table.

Despite looking on top at the Valley on Saturday, Ruben Selles' side conceded four in the final 30 minutes to make it 19 away matches without victory.

Speaking on BBC Berkshire, the three-time Player of the Season winner said: "It's so disappointing. The first half Reading might have shaded but there was not a lot between the two teams. The worrying thing was that Reading were at their best and Charlton hadn’t done anything that they have been doing at home. Even at the start of the second half, the first 10 minutes, it was nip and tuck.

"Once the second goal went in, once the first goal went in Charlton didn’t really click into gear until the second one went in. Once the second one went in I said on commentary Reading are gone and it could be three or four- unfortunately it has ended up that way. It is becoming a little bit of an embarrassment to be fair. They’ve dropped down a division, I know they’ve had a big clear-out over the summer, but they’ve now lost eight out of 12 games in League One."

Reading have one away match, at Shrewsbury Town next month, to prevent themselves from going 12 months without a win on the road.