Unlucky 13 after Stam men are held
READING could not take advantage of an extra day’s rest against a determined and well-drilled Owls side.
Jaap Stam’s men have won only three of their last 13 league games and their slide down the Championship table continues.
Stam said: “We played well and created several opportunities in the first half.
“For the majority of the game, we dominated in how we wanted to play. We always had to be aware of their counter-attack.
“You could see their plans of sitting deep, waiting to win the ball and then knocking it over the top.
“But we defended that well and didn’t give anything away.
“The only thing that we didn’t do today – and what we are lacking a bit – is scoring that goal.
“Against a team like Wednesday, it’s difficult to create opportunities. In the second half, they were sitting even deeper.
“We played some very good football but, of course, you need to score to get the three points.
“The players are disappointed that we didn’t get a win and you can always say afterwards that you deserved more. But that’s football.
“Sometimes we needed a little bit of finesse, a little bit of quality, with that final pass.
“That can give you that winning goal.”
Sheffield Wednesday head coach Carlos Carvalhal praised his team for carrying out his game plan to perfection.
The Owls were poor in the first half, barely registering a shot.
Although Wednesday improved after the interval, Lucas Joao wasted their best chance when he lobbed weakly at home goalkeeper Vito Mannone.
However, the visitors still stretched their unbeaten run to six matches and Carvalhal said: “We came to the game with a plan.
“They played Tuesday, we played Wednesday, so they had one more day to recover.
“We put out a team that was good and competent. Our plan was to try to block Reading’s game.”