Relegation fears pile up for hapless Jaap

AS he paced his technical area with hands buried deep in his pockets seemingly resigned to his fate, Jaap Stam looked every inch a dead man walking.

Reading were potentially two kicks away from the Premier League when they led Huddersfield 3-1 in the Championship play-off final shoot-out last May.

Less than nine months on after a single victory in 11 games they are nearer to League One than English football’s promised land, just four points separating them from the relegation zone.

The Royals prefer playing away from home due to the increasingly toxic atmosphere at the Madejski Stadium, where they’ve not won in the league for three months.

But for long spells of this latest setback that didn’t appear to be the case, until Chris Martin’s first goal of his loan spell from Derby gave them false hope.

Managers have been sacked for far less damaging runs than the one Stam has overseen in the past two months, and it would be a brave pundit who says with any certainty that the flailing Dutchman will still be at the helm for the next game at Nottingham Forest next week.

The 45-year-old laid the blame squarely with his underperforming players – “we concede goals too easily” – as they face a grim battle for survival.

Sone Aluko admitted self-doubt has crept in during such a wretched run, and the forward said: “We have to stick together to keep fighting to address the problems.

“It’s down to small margins because we could easily have taken a point. It’s easy when you’re not winning to lose confidence and start second-guessing yourself, but we’ve not become bad players overnight.

“We’ll keep believing things will turn and work hard to make it happen.”

Stam’s side had no answer to Adama Traore, who bludgeoned the ball into the net twice inside five minutes either side of halftime as the Teessiders won at home in the league for the first time under Tony Pulis at the fourth attempt.

With his pace and power terrifying the Reading defence, he also won a late penalty which an out of sorts Britt Assombalonga promptly sent into orbit as Middlesbrough squeaked home in a game they should have won at a canter. They are four points shy of the play-offs, and former Barcelona B star Traore, 22, said: “I’m still young and learning.

“The manager has been a big help and already had a big influence on me.

“He has given me the confidence to believe that I can keep on improving.”