Reading interim manager Paul Ince called on his players to be “more ruthless” as they edged past Blackburn 1-0 to ease their Sky Bet Championship relegation fears.
Now five points clear of the drop, Reading wasted numerous first-half chances – though Rovers were also indebted to a series of fine saves from goalkeeper Thomas Kaminski.
Josh Laurent broke the deadlock – securing the valuable three points – with a superb 25-yard drive in the 78th minute.
“Defensively, we were outstanding,” Ince said. “The back four had to defend at times because it all got a little bit nervy.
“In many ways it was probably a perfect performance – apart from the chances we missed in the first half. We should have been 3-0 up at half-time.
“We need to be more ruthless. That makes it a much easier day for the old ticker!
“But then again, listen – it was a clean sheet, which is very important, and we also got that amazing goal from Josh. It was a real wonder goal.
“OK, we were hanging on a bit at the end and we had to really defend.
“We were playing against a really good side, who are going for the play-offs, so to get that result is so important.
“We started a bit slowly but, after about 15 minutes, we grew into the game. We were by far the better side and could have put the game to bed.
“And then you go in at half-time thinking, ‘Are we going to get punished for that in the second half?’
“But our lads have got an incredible spirit about them.
“We’ve had a tough week – going to Nottingham Forest and Bournemouth, two top teams. And then this game.
“We’ve been down to the bare bones with our squad. We’ve had Covid, we’ve had illnesses, we’ve had viruses.
“But the lads have put in a really good shift this week.
“If you’d have said to me we’d get four points from those three games, I’d have snatched your hand off.”
Blackburn now lie in sixth place, two points clear of QPR in seventh.
“I haven’t got many thoughts on that game, other than it’s so disappointing,” said manager Tony Mowbray.
“It’s yet another game where we failed to score a goal. A lot of the time, we just huffed and puffed.
“I thought that we were pretty dominant for the first 20 minutes. There was only one team in it.
“But Reading ground their way back into the game and had some efforts towards the end of the first half.
“We started the second half positively. We missed a few great opportunities, as we’ve tended to do recently, and we ended up losing the game.
“It was a pretty poor clearance from us but a good finish from the kid (Laurent) to put it in the top corner.
“It’s another day without scoring, it’s another defeat.
“Not scoring has been a pretty common theme in recent weeks.
“We basically try to be pretty solid and not give too much away. But we’re just not scoring goals.
“And yet, in just about every game, we’ve had amazing opportunities to get that first goal and potentially win 1-0 on the back of that.
“But we don’t take them and then we end up losing 1-0.”
