Reading have stayed in the Sky Bet Championship’s relegation zone after a 2-1 defeat to Derby County at Pride Park.
Derby’s Liverpool loanee Harry Wilson was the hero for the Rams’ creating Duane Holmes early goal, before seeing his own deflected effort beat Reading goalkeeper Anssi Jaakkola shortly before half-time.
Jose Gomes’ side did pull a goal back through substitute Sone Aluko, after being sent through on goal by Ovie Ejaria.
Here is how we rated Reading’s players in another difficult away match for the Berkshire-based side.
Goalkeeper: Anssi Jaakkola
Was often forced by his teammates to try and play out from the back, a concept that looked very uncomfortable for the Finnish goalkeeper. 5
Right-back: Andy Rinomhota
Didn’t look as comfortable at right-back as opposed to the centre of midfield and was very unfortunate to see his attempted block on Wilson’s effort beat Jaakkola. 6
Centre-back: Tiago Illori
Derby’s frantic front line made life very difficult for Tiago Illori and the rest of his defensive colleagues. 6
Centre-back: Liam Moore
Like the rest of his back four, Reading’s captain struggled to handle the tenacity and constant pressure of Derby’s forward options, but he was the most assured of the Royals’ defenders. 6
Left-back: Andy Yiadom
Andy Yiadom’s high line ultimately cost Reading when Holmes struck early on, a mistake he tried to rectify going forward, but ultimately, he was unable to. 5
Defensive-midfield: Lewis Baker
Making his first start since joining on loan from Chelsea, Lewis Baker struggled to make the most of his opportunity and at half-time, was substituted. 5
Defensive-midfield: Leandro Bacuna
In the second half, Leandro Bacuna’s experience and passing credentials helped Reading to back into a game which in the first half, looked out of sight for Jose Gomes’ side. 6
Right-midfield: Modou Barrow
His only contributions saw him fire a shot from long-range over the woodwork shortly after the interval. 5
Attacking-midfield: John Swift
After scoring against Nottingham Forest last week, John Swift was unable to continue his run of form in the East Midlands. 5
In the second half, Ejaria switched onto the right side and found more success down there against Scott Malone, including an assist for Aluko’s goal. 7
Striker: Jon Dadi Bodvarsson
The Icelandic striker was unable to add to his total of seven Championship goals for the season, being shepherded comfortably by Richard Keogh and Fikayo Tomori throughout. 5
Substitute: Sone Aluko
Introduced at the start of the second half to try and add more pace and tenacity to Reading’s attack, Sone Aluko didn’t make life easy for the Rams’ defence. If he had started the match, Jose Gomes’ side’s chances of leaving with at least a point would have certainly been increased. 7
Substitute: Danny Loader
Added some much-needed pace into Reading’s front line. 6
Substitute: Garath McCleary
Failed to have much of an influence for the Royals. 5
