Another Saturday, and another weekend where we're frustrated that we didn't pick up all three points. This week, it was in-form Cardiff at the Madejski Stadium. Garath McCleary came on as a first half substitute for the injured Hal Robson-Kanu and scored a brilliant goal to put us 1-0 up. Cardiff equalised in the second half from Lex Immers, but Brian McDermott was not happy with the build up to the goal and other key decisions that were made during the game.
He told the official club website:
"We should have won. If the referee sees Ameobi handle the ball before they score, deflect it into his path, we would have won that game 1-0. And it's a definite handball, it's in the middle of the pitch, the referee is close to it and we all saw it on the line.
"We've got a point against Cardiff, a team who are trying to get into the play-offs - but I think they'll be pleased with a point this afternoon.
"We had chances to score a second, there were a couple of penalty appeals for handball in their box and right at the end Paul McShane was pushed inside the area - so it's gutting to get a draw when we should have won the game.
"I don't want to bleat on about referees, but it's a nailed on handball. In my opinion, the referee has got a massive decision wrong and I'm gutted he's missed it. The margins are very small and you need the officials to get the big decisions right.
"It was never a penalty the other night against Crystal Palace in the FA Cup and, if it was, then we should have had about three today. But it'll turn and we'll get a break soon."
Garath McCleary made his return and scored a brilliant goal and it was nice to see him back to near his best. Speaking about the Jamaican, McDermott said:
"Garath's was a terrific finish, he came off the bench and it was a great volley into the top corner. We could have had a couple more but we weren't quite ruthless enough
"And even right at the end, Simon Cox had a chance - it was a stretch and it would have been a great finish, but he just couldn't keep it down. He did well to get into the position and I thought he looked bright when he came on.
"They, on the other hand, didn't create too much and we deserved to get the win. We'll dust ourselves down and go again after the international break against Bolton.
"Today's was a game we should win 1-0. So I'm bitterly disappointed. But we'll get over it quickly, because we've got nine games to go, so let's see how many points we can get. We just want to win the next game and there are 27 points to play for this season."