Stoke (A) - Player Ratings

Adam Federici: 7

A good display from Federici who made a couple of fine saves in the first half to keep us in the contest and could do nothing about either goal. His distribution was fine but there were one or two instances where he elected to punch rather than go for the catch and it nearly cost us once or twice. He was also indebted to Alex Pearce for bailing him out in the closing minutes.

Ian Harte: 6.5

Good performance from Harte who did little wrong defensively and provided another assist from one of very few set pieces we had on the day.

Alex Pearce: 7

Pearce also put in a good shift, but will be disappointed with how he was spun for Jerome's goal. That being said, he made up for that mistake just minutes later when he put in a key sliding tackle to prevent a third and he can be happy with another fine performance.

Adrian Mariappa: 7.5

My man of the match for a very good defensive performance that saw the much smaller Mariappa keep Peter Crouch largely under wraps. He took his goal well but might wonder about his positioning for the opening goal, though I'd have to see it again before pinning any real blame on the former Watford man.

Stephen Kelly: 6.5

Steady as always from Kelly but he struggled to make the most of what little opportunities he had going forward. His block in the area in the first half saved us from going into the break 1-0 down and he had little to do with either goal.

Hope Akpan: 6

Quiet game from Akpan who struggled to make much of an impact on proceedings. He looked fairly tidy in possession but struggled to replicate the type of passes that were so impressive against Chelsea. Still very much a work in progress and certainly didn't let the side down but Jem Karacan and Danny Guthrie will both fancy their chances of winning back a starting berth in the coming weeks.

Mikele Leigertwood: 5.5

Same as usual from Leigertwood, but with Reading seeing so little of the ball he didn't really have the chance to give it away. He won back the ball well a number of times but will be disappointed with his header that helped lead to Jerome's goal.

Jobi McAnuff: 5

The skipper once again gave a fully committed performance but rarely made an impact and will feel the game passed him by. Deservedly subbed for McCleary.

Jimmy Kebe: 5

A bad day at the office for Kebe who squandered our best chance from open play and wasted several good opportunities to get a cross in. After his recent efforts a bad game is excusable but Jimmy will want to get on the plane to Dubai and forget this one pretty quickly.

Nick Blackman: 5.5

Like every Reading player you couldn't fault Blackman for effort but he too failed to take any sort of control in the final third and didn't really look a threat. It's a lot to ask for any new player to hit the ground running, especially when they've come up two divisions so it'd be very harsh to pass too much of a judgement on the former Blades forward.

Pavel Pogrebnyak: 5.5

Same as Blackman really, with the Russian once again giving a committed performance but not really looking a threat.

Adam Le Fondre: 6

You can't expect Alfie to do it every week and this just wasn't a day when a chance fell to him. Had a penalty appeal in the final seconds that Brian McDermott seemed convinced was a penalty so we'll have to see on that one.

Garath McCleary: 5.5

Came on for Jobi McAnuff but like his fellow Jamaican international, didn't really impact the play.

Noel Hunt: N/A

Had about 10 minutes to make an impact and didn't really do anything of note, 10 minutes is too short a time to make a real judgement though... unless you're Le Fondre.

So that's what we think, how about you? Who was your Man of the Match and who, if anyone, let the side down? Please leave us your thoughts below.