Veljko Paunovic Criticises Poor Finishing In 1-0 Loss At Wycombe

An extremely disappointing evening in Wycombe as Reading lost 1-0 against the bottom side to put our play-off place in doubt. The Royals are on a poor run of form, and if Cardiff City beat Bournemouth this evening, they will only be two points behind us in seventh. Reading remain fifth at the moment.

Fred Onyedinma gave Wycombe the lead but Reading had the chance to equalise when Andy Rinomhota was brought down in the penalty area. The home side went down to 10 men for the final 20 minutes and Lucas Joao stepped up and hit the crossbar with his penalty. Wycombe had the chance to make it two from the penalty spot but Rafael saved it.

A really disappointing evening all round with Veljko Paunovic admitting there were tears in the changing room after the game. He spoke to the official club website and Berkshire Live.

Paunovic on the performance

“We didn’t get the result we wanted. But we can’t change it now. All we can do is learn from it and improve. That is always our approach and it will be our approach again.

“We created good opportunities and we played some good football, but when you get your chances you have to take care of them. You have to score. In the past we have done that very well, but we have to recover that level of performance. We have to be clinical in front of goal - that is crucial for us. Clean sheets and solid defence, playing good football on the ground, and when we create those opportunities we have to convert.

“Football is very emotional. We have guys crying in the changing room after the game because they are so disappointed. But we aren't going to let them do that. We don’t have time to be disappointed. We have 14 games left, 14 opportunities in front of us. And the best one is the very next game.”

Paunovic on why is the side not being clinical

“We had some chances after the penalty but we have to acknowledge our opponents from stopping us from scoring goals. We also have to be sharper in our finishing and that comes down to repetition which we don’t have time to do but training is fundamental. We know what we know about our team. We are capable of scoring goals, we can play good football.

Paunovic on whether he will consider changing penalty takers

“We have to look at that situation, but we will see. We have to support Lucas. He’s very affected, the same as the rest of the team, and we will fix it.”

Paunovic on how concerned he is about the run of form

“I’m not concerned - I just want to fix it. There were some very good moments in the game, especially in the first half so this is something we will encourage. We’ll look to fix the sloppy start we had in the second half. We have to be always on the front foot and on our toes, and ready against every team.”