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Millwall Fans Verdict: Loyal Royals React To Important Point

Harry rounds up the feelings and thoughts of the Reading fanbase after Wednesday night’s draw to Millwall.

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I’m sure there were a lot of fans dreading Wednesday night’s fixture at Millwall. I think it would an overreaction to call it a make-or-break game, but it was the closest we’ve got to that kind of match so far this season.

If we had lost, then the vultures would've started circling and the start we had to the season would’ve more than likely been a long and forgotten memory. However, Pauno and his men managed to get a point from the Lion’s Den.

We may not have performed particularly well, but the most important thing was that we broke this awful losing run we’ve been on recently which, surprisingly, considering how awful we’ve been in the last few years, was our worst losing streak since 2016.

The important thing was the point though, but I'm sure the fans will agree with me in saying that this result needs to be backed up with a win against Bristol City - we do that and the last five games will all be forgotten. Funny how football works isn’t it?

Anyway, here’s how the fans reacted to the key talking points to come from Wednesday evening’s draw...

Michael Olise

Every fan wants to see Michael Olise in the starting eleven. The lad is ridiculously talented, and I'm sure will turn into one of our most important players. However, in recent weeks Pauno has opted to leave the youngster on the bench.

The gaffer has preferred to use Semedo in the number 10 role, which has raised a few eyebrows to say the least. And when Semedo was withdrawn at half time for Olise on Wednesday night, the academy graduate more than made his point to the manager.

As soon as he came on, we begun to look a lot more threatening and he even managed to grab an assist - which was an assist that, John Swift aside, no-one else in our squad can provide.

It remains to be seen whether his cameo is enough to persuade Pauno to stick him in the starting eleven on Saturday, but it’s clear to see what the fans opinion is...

Tom Holmes

Tom Holmes is proving himself to be a very valuable member of the squad. Whenever called upon, he's looked more than good enough to hold himself in this league.

And, even more impressively, he’s had to prove himself in a completely new position. Holmes is a centre back by trade but been used as a stand in right back more times than not so far this season - and the fans were impressed with him once again.

Personally, he's still our third-choice right back for me, but a very reliable one at that. Here’s what the fans thought about his performance...

Stopping the rot

The result was so much more important than the performance. We just needed to stop the rot, because five losses in a row, you'd imagine, would’ve left the confidence of the dressing room in tatters.

But we managed to avoid that worst-case scenario, and the fans were happy to see us get a point on the board for the first time in nearly a month - even if the performance left a lot to be desired.

All eyes have to be on Saturday now, but the fans were happy enough on Twitter with a point at The Den...

Conclusion

In the grand scheme of things, this will only be a good result if we win on Saturday afternoon, which makes the Bristol City game the biggest game of our season so far. The players have to get a positive result.

I don't really care how they do it, but we need to get those three points and I have full confidence that the players will get them.

Onwards and upwards. URZ.