Graham Alexander: Bradford took ‘horrible hit’ conceding late goals at Reading

Bradford manager Graham Alexander admitted his side had suffered a “horrible hit” when they conceded two late goals to lose 2-1 at fellow League One play-off chasers Reading.

City went ahead in the 68th minute through Matt Pennington’s second goal in as many games, but Reading levelled in the 90th minute via Paddy Lane’s angled shot and – seven minutes later – fellow substitute Matt Ritchie grabbed the winner.

The Bantams fell to a fifth-successive away defeat but still lie fourth in the table.

“What happened at the end can happen in any game,” Alexander said. “You can play so well for 89 minutes and then things like that can go against you.

“It’s the type of game that we have seen out so many times before.

“It was a horrible hit, we didn’t deserve that. But that’s what life is, sometimes it’s cruel. It’s a real sting.

“But what defines you is not the action, it’s your reaction. And I think that we’ll be defined by our reaction to this.

“It can knock the stuffing out of you but then you see what you really are.

“There’s bits about their goals that we can do better with, as a whole team from front to back.

“But, for me, it was the best away performance that we’ve had this season, even better than at Cardiff (a 3-1 win) – not as a result, obviously, but as a performance.

“The way that we passed the ball was superb, we looked like the home team, to be honest.

“We should win the game, I’m just devastated for the players. They deserve better than that, I thought that we were different class.

“We’ll just have to look at what we can improve on in those last minutes.”

Reading extended their unbeaten run to five matches and, in seventh place, have now closed the gap to the play-off spots to just one point.

“That’s football, isn’t it?” Reading manager Leam Richardson said. “The emotions (at the end) were there for all to see.

“It’s a squad game, you keep going and you keep pushing. It’s just another of those moments when someone steps forward.

“The lads who came on the pitch were excellent and we finished the game really strongly.

“On reflection, we probably did edge it in all the stats.

“In the last couple of games (two 1-1 draws), when you don’t get the result, then you’ve made the wrong subs.

“But when you get the right result, then you’ve made the right subs.

“I try to be consistent in what I do and today was all for the players. I thought that we responded terrifically against a really strong Bradford side.

“I thought that, ultimately, we deserved that result.”