STAM: USE PAIN TO BOUNCE BACK

JAAP STAM has told his devastated Reading players to use their heartbreak to win promotion next season. The Royals boss claimed he was proud of his side as they missed out on a place in the Premier League in a penalty shootout. Stam said: “It’s very hard and I feel bad for my players. “It’s difficult to take, but it needs to be difficult. You can’t say, ‘Tomorrow I’m going to eat some Chinese with my girlfriend’. “You need to feel this and experience it and take that experience into the next occasion. You have to learn from it and good players do that.” Liam Moore skied his spot-kick before Jordan Obita’s was saved by Danny Ward, to destroy Reading’s dream of a third promotion to the Premier League. Stam missed a penalty in Holland’s defeat to Italy in the Euro 2000 semifinals in similar fashion to Moore and he felt for his stars. “You try to keep your cool and do the same things we’ve been doing in training sessions, but it’s difficult to create the same atmosphere or tension in a training session,” he said. “What was important for me is that the players took responsibility. Sometimes they can say they are injured or ill, but they didn’t do that. “Of course, it’s possible that you will miss, and that happens, and everybody is disappointed we don’t go to the Premier League. “I am disappointed with the result, but not my players. “We need to look at what we can do next season – no one thought we could win promotion after just one year.”