I have to say I am not a fan of "resting" players for the cup. The league is our bread and butter and we really should be going out to win especially against other teams around us in the league table.
Understandably Hal Robson-Kanu was missing, but the rest I am undecided about. That said, some of these fringe players could have used the opportunity to stake their claim to a place in the team on Friday.
First-Half
I don't often agree with my mother, especially as she wears extremely Rose- tinted glasses, however she was right when pointing out that it looked like Huddersfield had more men in the pitch than we did. Every loose ball ended up with a Town player.
Having played the Terriers three times already this season we should have learnt how they play. As in the away league game last season the ball was moved quickly out to the wings and crossed for Wells and company in the box.
Too often we relied on Al-Habsi to save us. He did pull off a great one on one save but should never been put in that position. Up front was the usual problem - lacking ideas. Rakells did scuttle around a bit but the Town defence appeared to have done their homework on him.
Kermorgant showed little, he did well to shake a couple of defenders but ultimately had no end product. He's taken some stick for being 34 and not reproducing his form of last season but let's not forget that he had Matt Ritchie feeding him at Bournemouth and we seem to lack that quality cross at the moment. Not including an offside goal I think George Evans' shot was the nearest we came to scoring and that one was nearer the corner flag than goal post.
Second-Half
Whatever Brian said to them at half time was obviously quickly forgotten.
Andrew Taylor hadn't had a spectacular first half but nevertheless didn't put a foot wrong until whatever he thought he was doing when he short changed Ali with a backpass, that lacked power and conviction. Without seeing it again I don't know if the Omani could have rectified the situation. Unfortunately, instead of igniting the Reading team into action it was the same old response.
Ola John did seem to bring a bit of excitement when he came for Evans. Evans seems to be one for the future, the step up to the Championship looks to be a steep learning curve. Also Lucas Piazon seemed lost but to be fair a cold night in Huddersfield was never going to be game he shines in.
Their second goal was good work from Sean Scannell, who had just been brought on, and inevitably Jamie Patterson stuck it away. We'll be glad to see back of him this season. Simon Cox was lively for the short time he was on the pitch and it was nice to see Josh Barrett getting his debut.
God only knows what happened with the third goal. From our end of the ground it looked like the ball came out of the box and everyone stopped, then Huddersfield realised the whistle hadn't gone and tucked the ball away! Ola's goal was probably our only shot on target all night and was a beauty from behind the goal.
Final Thoughts
Overall did the result fit the game? Certainly we didn't deserve anything but 3-1 probably flattered them. Let's chalk this down to experience and move on, Friday being a useful distraction from our patchy league form.
Best part of the long Tuesday night trip? Two pies for a £1 on the way out!!