Leyton Orient boss Richie Wellens felt the 1-1 draw against Reading 'could have gone either way' and was full of praise for Ruben Selles' Royals.

Controlling the early stages, the host went behind against the run of play as Tom Holmes was penalised for a handball and Daniel Agyei converted from the spot.

Within five minutes Harvey Knibbs equalised from a well-worked corner routine.

Both teams had chances in the second period but the two in-form teams shared the points.

Reading coach James Oliver-Pearce felt it was a fair result, and Wellens agreed.

"It could have gone either way," he told the O's official account. "I thought for the first 20 minutes they were very good and we started really poorly. We allowed their full backs to get out, whether it be wide or inside the pitch, and they caused us one or two problems. We were lucky to be 1-0 up. As soon as they equalised, we made a couple of changes, tactical stuff, and we dominated most of the game with the ball and around their box- especially in the second half.

"They are a threat. Everyone looks at the league table and they’ve got Smith, who’s a very good player at this level, speed throughout the pitch, they’ve got Lewis Wing in midfield who if you step off him can spray passes. They’ve got a centre-half who just got a move to the Premier League that they’ve loaned back so they have a lot of talented players here.

"In periods we dominated. They had transitional moments where they dominated us, but in terms of calmness and possession, we dominated the game. It could have gone either way, at the end we could have won it but we could have lost it as well."

Reading Chronicle:

Wellens' son Charlie is on the books in Berkshire, scoring on Saturday morning against Chelsea Under-23s.

Knowing best about the off-field issues at the club, the Mancunian spoke to the local media about the club.

"I think it's a brilliant football club here. We saw all the young lads, youth team players coming in with tracksuits. What the club has gone through, them kids want to play for this first team and the fact people put this club in danger is bang out of order. It's a terrific football club."