JAAP Stam admitted Reading FC were punished for missing a glut of first-half chances in today's 2-2 draw with Leeds United.

Jon Dadi Bodvarsson notched his 10th of the season to give Royals a 16th minute lead.

Stam then watched in horror as Bodvarsson and George Evans were denied on the line in the same move before Mo Barrow failed to beat Bailey Peacock-Farrell when one-one-one with the rookie Leeds keeper.

Peacock-Farrell also tipped a George Evans 30-yarder onto the crossbar to compound Stam's frustration - minutes before Pontus Jansson equalised just before the break.

Paul Heckingbottom's visitors nudged ahead on 56 minutes with a delightful finish from Pablo Hernandez after Liam Kelly had given it away.

But Reading salvaged a point through Eunan O'Kane's own goal two minutes later after Leandro Bacuna's low drive went in off the Leeds midfielder.

The visitors looked more likely to snatch a late winner with Pierre-Michel Lasogga drawing a fine save from Anssi Jaakkola.

But Jaakkola almost blew it five minutes from time when his clearance hit Lasogga before bouncing off the post and back into his arms.

Reading Chronicle:

Jaap Stam gives instructions in the 2-2 draw with Leeds.

Stam said: "If you look at how we played first half it was very promising, very good at times.

"We made the right decisions when to go forward and not to. We scored the goal and created another couple of very good opportunities which basically we needed to score. If you do, it's a totally different game.

"They equalised, they're a good side, and they got the second. We needed to get back into the game and we did.

"We pushed but we couldn't find what we had in the first half. I'm not saying it's good enough, but we defended well and put in a lot of energy.

"But the first half was more sparky than the second half."

Stam, though, also stressed:"We scored, Mo had a one-v-one chance, Jon Dadi had a chance then George Evans had one and we also hit the bar. At least one of those chances needs to go in.

"It's not like they do it deliberately, but when you get clear-cut chances it's important to finish them."

On the positive side, Reading have lost only one of their last five Championship fixtures, drawing four including Tuesday's 1-1 with Bolton Wanderers.

More worryingly they have won just once in 16 games - yet increased their lead over the relegation places from five to six points, despite actually dropping a place to 19th in the table.

Reading Chronicle:

Anssi Jaakkola saves his blushes by grabbing the ball on the line after his clearance hit Pierre-Michel Lasogga, much to the annoyance of the Leeds United fans behind.

When asked if he was still looking over his shoulder, Stam confessed: "Of course we are. Winning makes it easier. We've had a couple of draws now but we're still looking for that win.

"You can say we're due one, but you need to do it yourself, take your opportunities and defend well."

Stam made three changes to his side and dropped academy centre-back Tom Holmes to the bench following his debut against Bolton.

Stam expanded on his decision to pick the much-criticised Tiago Ilori instead of the 17-year-old Maiden Erlegh schoolboy.

"We looked at how Leeds play and their quality up front. Bolton played with one striker and you can deal with that with two defenders.

"But (Samuel) Sais was playing high up the pitch so you get a lot of one v ones, so you need to make a choice from the defenders that you have.

"Who is more confident of defending one v ones in a big space without being caught out behind?

"It was difficult to tell him (Holmes) he wasn't going to play because he did quite well against Bolton."

Reading Chronicle:

Liam Kelly holds off a challenge from Leeds United goalscorer, Pablo Hernandez.