Noel Hunt, the new Reading manager, was overjoyed after earning a point against League One leaders Wycombe Wanderers in his first game in command.
Harvey Knibbs scored in the first half as the Royals held the Chairboys to a 1-1 draw at Adams Park, less than 24 hours after Ruben Selles moved to Championship strugglers Hull City.
Speaking to the media for the first time since accepting the position on a two-and-a-half-year contract, the former striker said: “I think so [very excellent away point]. With the emotions running through the camp since Thursday, to go out and put on a performance like that in those conditions, you’ve got to be happy.”
There was just one alteration from Tuesday’s 3-0 victory over Cambridge United, with Knibbs, the goal scorer, is back from the start. Speaking about the approach and expanding on what Selles had started, Hunt said, “If it isn’t broken, don’t fix it; just little bits of mindset information. Can we take the sting out of chaotic situations? Can we keep possession? I thought we did quite well in the closing ten minutes. I thought we played the conditions quite well in the first half, which they did not appreciate.
“In the second half, the first 25 minutes, we struggled to get distance–I wanted us to be more daring with the line because the wind was keeping the ball up and we were caught in no man’s land. We got a grip on it, and they stepped on it. I’m disappointed that we didn’t receive a penalty or two.”
Both Sam Smith and Chem Campbell had penalty requests rejected, with Smith receiving a yellow card for diving after colliding with the Wycombe goalkeeper.
Hunt, feeling little let down, remarked, “I thought it was a tough game for us. I believed that every minor choice went in favor of the home team, but that can happen, and you can feel a
A little hard done by. It was a difficult condition to ref. It looked like a penalty to me [Sam Smith], and the Chem [Campbell] had a case. We defended like warriors; their strong suit is putting balls in the box. If you look at how many games they’ve won in the last four or five weeks, I thought we did an excellent job defending. We approach it game by game. We have an EFL Trophy game on Tuesday and a league game on Saturday, so that’s our main emphasis.”
A final message was left for the supporters, who had travelled in Storm Darragh to cheer on the squad at the conclusion of a difficult week.
“They were fantastic.” You could hear them all. way through, and they were class. In terms of maintaining their spirits, they supported the lads throughout, which is exactly what we will need. We will really need them in the next four to six months, so the more we can acquire, the better.”
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