ROYALS PAY PENALTY FOR

Joe Lumley

Gave away the penalty, but would be harsh to blame him given the build-up. Was hardly troubled otherwise.

Andy Yiadom

Lively in the opening exchanges, looking to bomb down the right, but looked increasingly less confident as the half went on.

Tom Holmes

Bit shaky at times. Adopted decent positions higher up the pitch, but couldn’t put in any deliveries of quality.

Scott Dann

A quiet display from the defender who, like Yiadom, was taken off at half-time.

Naby Sarr

Played a big part in Millwall’s opener and had a couple of really rash moments, Grew into the game somewhat.

Nesta Guinness-Walker

Better defensively. Was unable to get forward as much as he would have liked.

Tom McIntyre

Just didn’t affect the game. Millwall played the ball around him and he struggled to link up the play.

Didn’t do an awful lot of note, but a relatively tidy performance. Made himself available as much as he could and played with one or two touches.

Tom Ince

Not his best showing. Got a few shots away from range, but his set piece deliveries were not at his usually high standard.

Andy Carroll

On the receiving end of a barrage of strong challenges. Struggled to get into the game and service into him was limited.

Shane Long

Worked hard but just couldn’t get the ball to stick. Was replaced by Casadei, and didn’t look awfully impressed when he came off.

Jeff Hendrick SUBS

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By ANDY PRESTON apreston@wokingham.today

READING FC were on the end of back to back home defeats as they edged closer to the Championship relegation zone with a narrow loss to Millwall.

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In a frustrating affair, the Royals conceded the only goal of the match 11 minutes in when Andreas Voglsammer emphatically scored from the penalty spot following Naby Sarr’s mistake and Joe Lumley’s subsequent foul.

But Reading were unable to work their way back into the match and didn’t manage a single shot on target.

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The defeat leaves Reading in 16th on 44 points from 36 before an expected points deduction in the coming days.

Paul Ince named an unchanged team from Reading’s narrow defeat to Sheffield United in midweek as Tom McIntyre made his 100th appearance in the blue and white hoops.

The Millwall line-up also saw a Reading academy graduate in the starting eleven as Jake Cooper, who played more than 50 games for the Royals, took the armband for the Lions.

Ince’s men went into the contest in 16th but with the threat of an impending points deduction looming, while Gary Rowett’s side have their sights set on the playoffs and were one place outside the top six before kick-off.

Naby Sarr netted the only goal of the game when the team’s met in August which is just one of three Reading wins on

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Match stats

READING: Lumley, McIntyre, Sarr, Dann, GuinnessWalker, Holmes, Yiadom, Hendrick, Ince, Carroll, Long

SUBS: Bouzanis, Joao, Azeez, Fornah, Casadei, Moore, Mbengue

MILLWALL: Long, McNamara, Wallace, Cooper (c), Bradshaw, Flemming, Cresswell, Leonard, Saville, Voglsammer, Honeyman

SUBS: Bialkowski, Hutchinson, Burke, Malone, Shackleton, Watmore, Esse

GOALS: Voglsammer 11’ (pen)

PLAYER OF THE MATCH: Amadou Mbengue the road this campaign.

The home team started in bright fashion and won some early freekicks, the second of which coming after a storming run down the right from skipper Andy Yiadom.

But it was Millwall who almost profited from the resulting set-piece as they launched a counter attack that was smartly extinguished by Nesta Guinness-Walker.

It was a lapse in concentration from defender Sarr that allowed Millwall in as his wayward pass fell into the path of Zian Flemming. He sprinted in on goal and after Joe Lumley rushed off his line trying to make amends for his defenders mistake, he brought the midfielder down leaving the referee no choice but to award a penalty.

Andreas Voglsammer stepped up and confidently smacked the ball into the top left hand corner to give Lumley no choice of getting anywhere near it to put the visitors in front after 11 minutes.

After going behind, it turned into

INCE: ‘IT WAS A HORRIBLE GAME, ONE MISTAKE COST US’

With

“One mistake, that was it,” said Ince.

“It was always going to be a scruffy game.

“The last thing you want to do is give a team like Millwall a goal because they defend for their lives.

“It was a horrible game. They make it that way and the ref doesn’t help.

“It was never going to be a classic – it’s not like they have cut us open at will. But they won their headers, they were brave, aggressive and we matched them in all of those areas today.

“But it was a mistake that cost us.

“The disappointing thing is that we didn’t have a shot on target which isn’t like us at home.”

Ince was frustrated with the referee’s performance, but did admit that he believed the decision to give Millwall a penalty was the correct call.

He continued: “I think it was (a penalty).

“I’ve looked at it.

“I don’t know whether it’s a red card. Has he come out too far, too quickly, I don’t know.

“I thought the ref was poor. Even with three minutes of injury time. With so many subs and injuries, that’s baffling.

“The standard of referees has not been great. Today we had another one who was not great. It’s got to be better for every team in the Championship.”

Ince also confirmed some injury concerns after Andy Yiadom had to be withdrawn with an ankle injury and Scott Dann with a hamstring issue.

The Royals boss also confirmed that Mamadou Loum is on the sidelines with a pelvic injury having missed out on the matchday squad for the last few weeks.

Ince continued: “The quality of crossing was poor at times and maybe we’re not gambling enough in the box.

“We’ve got to be more ruthless and create more.

“But I can’t say the players didn’t give their all. Tuesday took a lot out of them but they still showed a lot of endeavour this afternoon.

“Now, we’ve got 10 games to go. That’s it. We’re in the final run.”