Reading v Swansea: Match Ratings

McCarthy: 7

Looked impressive in the Reading goal, despite conceding three goals. Gave the ball away stupidly in the first half which went unpunished. Made a number of decent stops to prevent it being more than three for Swansea.

Kelly: 5

Pushed forward to try and help Drenthe on the right, but had little effect. Struggled against the pace of the Swansea wide man he was against but this was by no means a disastrous showing. Will be comfortable in the Championship.

Pearce: 5

Looked uncomfortable in the passing system. Walked out of defence with the ball occasionally, but looked like a rabbit in headlights when it came to passing the ball on a number of occasions. Defended well enough, if not caught out a number of times by the clever movement of the Swansea front-line.

Morrison: 5

Looks happy to push out of defence and get involved, but often left gaps behind him. Took a pot shot that was no trouble for Vorm. Again looked confounded by Swansea movement.

Bridge: 6

You can see why he was in the Championship Team of the Season last season. Comfortable on the ball, pushed forward, decent delivery. Defensively, something was lacking.

Karacan: 4

Didn't notice him much in the match, as Guthrie dominated the midfield. Ran about a lot and had a reasonably pass success rate, but looks like he still needs to get used to the new role Adkins wants from him.

Guthrie: 8

Relishing the new passing system. Everything in midfield that was good went through him, as he moved around and found space to pick up the ball and pass it. Switched play, tried the occasional through ball, he could be an important player for the coming season if this game was anything to go by.

Drenthe: 6

Stepovers. When was the last time you saw a Reading player charge into the box doingstep-overs? Or a neat back-heel? Some neat bits of skill but looks to be trying too much. Made little impact in this game but you could see there were flashes of pure brilliance.

McAnuff: 6

Typical McAnuff performance. Dedicated, adaptable, solid enough, but by no means indispensable. One fantastic touch in the first half nearly gave him a chance to level the scores.

Robson-Kanu: 4

On the way back from injury, and it told. Didn't look at his best and rarely got the better of his man.

Le Fondre: 4

Huffed, puffed, but he wouldn't have even blown the straw house down. Was feeding off scraps but when he did get the ball he did very little with it. It looks like he's crying out for a strike partner.

Substitutes:

Akpan: 7

Came on and made a big difference, providing a presence in the box and some powerful runs. A couple of headers and shots, it looked at times as though he was playing as the second striker.

Jake Taylor: N/A

Good to see young Taylor come on and get a few minutes under his belt, but there wasn't enough time to gauge a match rating.

Were you at the game? Do you agree or disagree with any ratings? Let us know!