Ruben Selles Dissects Reading’s 2-1 Defeat To Fleetwood

The Royals returned to the Select Car Leasing Stadium to face fellow strugglers Fleetwood, resulting in a 2-1 defeat.

Fleetwood took the lead just two minutes in. Dom Ballard equalised early in the second half before the visitors scored a last-minute winner through Josh Vela to secure all three points.

It is a frustrating and extremely concerning time for us fans, with the need for change in many ways becoming more and more urgent. Here is what manager Ruben Selles had to say; he spoke to the official club website and Reading Chronicle.

Selles on the defeat

“In the first 30 minutes we were nowhere near where we need to be. We were weak in our approach, we missed passes, we didn’t keep possession, they put pressure on us and we didn’t react in the proper way.

“And we conceded a very early goal. David kept us in the game in that first half an hour with a couple of good saves.

“We got back into it and we had good chances to equalise and then even go ahead. We did score and we should have scored a second one, we hit the post twice and had other good opportunities… and then we repeated our mistake at the end of the game and we concede another late goal, just a couple of minutes after we had a chance to win it with Harlee Dean hitting the post.

“Things aren’t going the way we want at the moment. But of course we need to be better and a lot more robust from the very beginning.

“We have been talking about being more ruthless in both boxes. And that hasn’t changed – we need to be protecting our box better and scoring the chances we create.

“It’s not about one player missing a chance or one player making a mistake at the back, we are all in it together and it is about supporting the players who don’t score their chances and defending a situation as a group. But we need to be more ruthless.

“If we’d put the ball in the back of the net with a couple of chances we have had in the last few games we would be talking about a different story right now.

“And we are trying to find ways to change that. You can talk about the system or the players who are picked and of course we analyse everything – but sometimes it is about some parts of the execution. And we can all do better with that.

“We want to be nasty in defensive moments, we want to apply pressure in attack and we want to do that together. But we need to be more robust in the things that we do.

“We know we can do better, we know we have been doing enough to get more than we have got from the games. But we know nobody is going to help us. Nobody is going to come here and do the things we need to do for us. The only ones who can turn the situation around right now are the players, myself and the coaching staff. And that is what we need to do.”

Selles on the slow start

“We prepared to start quick, in our usual way with the ball. There were a lot of passes that we missed. A lot of situations that we weren’t engaging. A lot of situations in the first 30 minutes where they put some pressure on us and we didn’t react in the correct way.”

Selles on Camara 30-minute sub

“It was my decision. Unfortunately, we decided to play him in situations to attack the space between centre-back and full-back to get pressure and do things he used to do but the whole thing was not good. We decided to change a bit of the dynamic with Femi. Things happen. We still trust our players but when something is not working, we don’t need to wait to change it.”

Selles on turning things around

“I am confident I can turn it around. I think at the end of the day some of the situations are about putting the ball in the net and protecting better. We were not there in the first 30 minutes but when we came back we were there to win the game. We need to be more ruthless. We have been working, talking, and doing things so it is about us, together, making it better.”

Selles on how to turn it around

“Everyone is devastated. I am the first one devastated because we know we can start better but we know we have been doing enough to get more from the games. Nobody is going to help us and come here and do things for us, the only ones that can change the situation right now is the players and technical staff. We know we can do it; we don’t need to depend on anybody, but we need to do it.”

Selles on Ovie Ejaria

“No, he is still in his process so it will take some time. He is working with the physios and when they can do something he is with the Under-21s and then he is ready for us.”