Leam Richardson gives blunt verdict after Reading FC loss

Stockport controlled large periods of the contest and Richardson felt his side's own mistakes had played directly into the hosts' hands.

"Yes, obviously a disappointing result. A tough, tough result," he said.

"I thought the first half, we weren't us. We didn't really have any snap, I didn't think we controlled at all without the ball. And then when we did turn over the ball, our transitions were poor.

"We gave the ball away so cheaply in the first half and good teams will punish you for it. And I thought they did. I thought the first 45-50 minutes were disappointing.

"I thought they were the better team by a long shot."

Although Jack Marriott's goal briefly hauled Reading back into contention, Richardson believed the decisive moment came when Stockport restored their two-goal advantage.

"Although we scored a good goal to get ourselves back into it, the third goal kills the game, which is disappointing," he said.

"It comes from our possession again, so it's disappointing."

Reading improved markedly after the break and enjoyed their best spell of the match, prompting Richardson to question why that level of control had not been evident from the outset.

"Obviously, we start controlling more of the second half and then you kind of wonder, why didn't we do that to start with?" he said.

"I've got to be accountable, certainly. I'll look at myself inwardly straight away. Tactics, team selection, as you always do, and be better for it the next time.

"Because although the result's a tough one to take, the performance in the first half was tough to take, I thought we finished the game quite strong. I thought we started to control large parts of the second half.

"And if we'd have possibly scored a goal, it would have been interesting."

The Reading boss repeatedly returned to his side's wastefulness in possession, insisting no system or tactical setup can compensate when a team continually hands the ball back to the opposition.

"It doesn't matter how you play, what formation you play, who you play against, what level. If you give the ball away cheap like that, with the connections that we normally have, of being really strong, good teams will punish you," he said.

"Today's a tough day, today's a tough result. The performance, again, like I said, the first 45 minutes, nowhere near good enough from myself, the players.

"But if there's going to be a positive, I thought we fought until the end, kept going until the end, possibly should have got something going towards the end, but it wasn't to be."

Marriott's goal was one of the few bright spots on another difficult away day, with Richardson underlining the striker's importance following his return from injury.

"We always speak about it, don't we, and how important he is," Richardson said.

"The longer we can keep him on the pitch and scoring, the better for us."

There was also a league debut for academy prospect Jerae Jones, whose recent performances earned him his opportunity in the first team.

"Really pleased for Jerae today," Richardson said.

"You saw his performance on Wednesday, the goal he scored, how he affects the game."

Attention now turns to a full week on the training ground before Reading's return to Berkshire, with Richardson hopeful injured players will begin to filter back into contention.

"You want to get on the training ground, you want to iron a few things out, hopefully get a few people out of the treatment room," he said.

"Our treatment room's too full at the minute, so we'll be pushing and pulling people out of the treatment room because, like I said, we need our squad, we need our players on the pitch to challenge what we're trying to achieve."

For now, however, Richardson was left reflecting on a performance he felt fell far below Reading's standards.

"We'll take it on the chin," he said.

"It'll be a tough night, take it on the chin and we'll look forward."