Reading boss Noel Hunt says his side ‘weren’t good enough’ after Doncaster draw

Reading manager Noel Hunt admitted his side “weren’t good enough” in attack as they had to settle for a 1-1 League One draw at Doncaster.

Veteran striker Billy Sharp gave Doncaster a 1-0 lead just past the hour mark, but home substitute Kamari Doyle levelled seven minutes later.

The draw extended the Royals’ unbeaten home run in all competitions to eight matches.

“When we got back to 1-1, we had five minutes where I thought we might kick on a bit more,” Hunt said.

“We said that we needed to believe a bit more, but fair play to the lads, they battled away.

“In the end though, it just wasn’t to be. We probably weren’t good enough in that top end of the pitch.

“It was a frustrating game. I think that we looked tired.

“We had a big week away to Cardiff and then at home to Northampton in midweek.

“Come the middle of the game today, we did look tired. Our decision-making wasn’t as good as it has been in recent games.

“Missing key players doesn’t help and the front line that we have is young.

“It was a tight first half and we just needed more confidence to get the ball down and play through.

“The areas that we put the ball into weren’t as great as they were in the last few games, and we couldn’t get a foothold.

“When we did, I thought that we created some decent opportunities around the box.

“But as the game went on, we looked a bit more weary.”

Doncaster have now failed to win in seven league matches.

Rovers manager Grant McCann said: “I thought it was a strong performance from us away from home.

“Reading have been in decent form but we’ve come here today and been really aggressive and strong defensively.

“We’ve been resolute and shown intent in terms of trying to win the game.

“We had a couple of very good chances in the first half that we didn’t quite take.

“But then we take the one that we got in the second half, though we probably should have scored just before that.

“I was pleased for Billy to put us 1-0 up.

“Then the goal that we conceded, we just got stuck in terms of doing other people’s jobs rather than doing our own.

“Hence why the lad has got free and been able to run with the ball and shoot.

“All in all, though, it’s been a building block for us today. Today was about getting back to what we’re about – our identity.

“I thought that we did that for large parts of the game.”