Swift punishes nine-man Forest

JOSE GOMES earned his first win as Reading boss as nine-man Forest slumped to defeat at the Madejski Stadium.

A first-half strike from John Swift (right) and a late own goal by Jack Robinson ensured the Championship strugglers’ 11-game winless run came to an end. Their job was made easier by Forest captain Danny Fox and Tendayi Darikwa both seeing red.

Reading started well and the pressure bore fruit midway through the first half when Swift swept home a Mo Barrow cross from close range.

On the hour, a melee broke out following a reckless challenge by Daryl Murphy, which resulted in five cards being shown by referee Oliver Langford. One of them was Fox’s second of the afternoon. Darikwa was then dismissed for a nasty tackle on Danny Loader before Robinson turned Andy Yiadom’s low cross into his own net.

Forest caretaker boss Simon Ireland admitted the players had been affected by Aitor Karanka’s rancorous departure on the eve of the game. ‘It’s almost impossible for the last 24 hours not to have an effect on the players,’ he said. ‘They’ve been fantastic and tried to put it behind them as best they can.’

Gomes said: ‘It’s a very strong step to galvanise the club again. But we must take the second step and the 19 steps we have in front of us.’