A DEN DEBUT BAD READING FOR GOMES

IT is a good job for new Reading boss Jose Gomes that Christmas comes but once a year.

Six days ago, the 48-year-old (above) was looking forward to a break over the festive period in Portugal as Rio Ave boss.

Yesterday, he spent Boxing Day watching his new club have two players sent off at the Den and slump into the Championship relegation zone.

Tyler Blackett and Leandro Bacuna received straight red cards, for a lunge and a stamp respectively, as a Jed Wallace free-kick lifted Millwall above their visitors and out of the bottom three.

Gomes said: “It is a very different Christmas working far from my country, but I am very happy and motivated to be in the best football in the world.

“Playing 85 minutes with 10 men and then part of those 85 with nine, my players fought until the last second. I’m proud of their attitude. They are brave.”

Having not won since October, Millwall were grateful for Reading’s ill-discipline. Wallace’s whipped free-kick after eight minutes gave them the points.

Blackett’s dangerous lunge on the goalscorer 60 seconds later and consequent red card seemed to promise an easy afternoon for Neil Harris’s side.

But Reading controlled much of the second period even with 10 men, before Bacuna appeared to stamp on Shane Ferguson two minutes from time.

A grateful Harris said: “We have played really well and had some really bad luck at times, so I’m not going to bemoan today’s not great performance by my players. There was a lot of edginess.”