Stam: "We Didn't Get What We Deserved"

In a week where mistakes have cost us dearly, Jaap Stam felt that yesterday was no different when the Royals drew 2-2 against high flying Brighton at the Madejski.

Stam was disappointed that we were unable to win all three points, but I'm sure most Reading fans were happy with a point. Stam told the official club website:

"We created the better chances, played the better football, we had possession, energy and we deserved more. We didn't get what we deserved...again. But we controlled the game, had a couple of very good attacks in that first half and we played very well."

It was a interesting afternoon for Joey van den Berg as he was sent off and scored an own goal, and with Liam Moore watching from the stands, he will probably start on Tuesday! Stam felt that his side showed a lot of character to get the point, adding:

"Swifty scores a great goal at the start of the game, but you concede twice from our own mistakes - once with an own goal and then we didn't do well in a certain situation at the start of the second half.

"I don't know if it was a push on Joey that forced him to tumble, but you can't concede an own goal like that. We've spoken about defending set pieces over the last couple of weeks.

"And then at the start of the second half - it's happened before in previous games this season. I know from when I played, if you've done well in the first half at the start of the second half you're all talking about it, starting well after the break.

"Everybody is really up for it, but for some reason - i don't know why - that little bit of concentration is gone when you start the half and you concede a goal. We are making mistakes, whether it be strange or stupid fouls or not being sharp straight after half time - so we have to get that out of our system.

"And when you concede a goal, you have to work twice as hard to get a goal back. At 2-1 you have to fight your way back into the game to get the equaliser.

"We had to put a lot of energy into it because we were playing against a team with good quality. But we did well, got it back to 2-2 and then you want the third goal to win the game - that's in our nature, that's how we want to play.

"As i say we'd already put a lot of energy into the game at that stage, so it wasn't going to be easy, but we still put the ball into the box a good number of times. Maybe the runs in front of goal were not good enough at certain times, but we worked very hard for a point and should have had more."

Before the game, Brighton hadn't conceded a goal all season, so yesterday's performance can put the team in a good spirits before MK Dons come to visit on Tuesday. Stam added:

"Brighton did very well last season and they are a good team who want to go to the Premier League. You see how they invest in players, in the players they're buying to strengthen their squad, you can see they're looking for promotion.

"But that doesn't mean you can't play against them, it doesn't mean you can't beat them. My philosophy is for attractive, attacking football with a lot of possession. And, in a way, we succeeded in that today."