Reading FC Manager Jaap Stam: "We Just Weren't Good Enough."

It was an extremely disappointing evening for the Royals after losing 1-0 to an inform QPR at the Madejski Stadium.

I remember last year when we faced QPR, it was a Thursday evening and we were extremely poor losing 1-0 late on. This year, again we were extremely poor and lost 1-0.

Jamie Mackie came back to haunt Jaap's men. Stam told the Official Club Website after the game:

"It is disappointing. Everybody wants to win games, the fans, myself, the players, we all want to do well. So the players were very, very disappointed after the game.

"We played against a side who defended very well. And when they came out on the counter attack, they were waiting for those moments.

"First half, we lost the ball and they score that goal. Then they sit even deeper and it's difficult.

"We needed to do it right, we needed to be patient and make the right choices on the ball - the first touches need to be good, the passing needs to be good and in creating chances you need to be good.

"We didn't do that first half, we did it a little bit better in the second half and forced them back even further.

"But we still needed to be aware of them on the counter attack, because they broke out a couple of times and they were a threat in the box.

"We had a lot of possession, but it's not about possession, it's about scoring goals and getting the result we all want.

"We still got a couple of chances with Yann Kermorgant, but we just couldn't finish them off. It was one of those days. We worked hard, but on the day, we just weren't good enough to hurt them and win this game."

I think it's fair to say as a fan it was a missed opportunity to not gain points on second place Newcastle, but Stam wanted to remind the media and fans that after a tough couple of years for Reading, to keep expectations to a minimum. He added:

"We need to be realistic. It's not like we're thinking we're playing QPR at home so it's going to be an easy win.

"We're not there yet. We can't say we want to win this league or we can easily end up in the first six in the division. We're trying to work on something over here and eventually we want to get towards the Premier League.

"But you can't expect a team within six months to be contenders for a top two spot in the Championship or even a play-off place if you compare it to where the club finished in the last couple of seasons.

"Of course, if there is a chance, we want to take it. But we need to be realistic.

"We all need to support each other, help each other. That has been our main strength up until now - working as a team, as a group, knowing what we can do if everyone is sharp and focused. And that's what we'll keep on doing."