The only way is up (please!)
Nottingham Forest 1 Reading 0
DEBUTANT Marc McNulty feels a draw would have been a fair result as the Royals slipped to a narrow defeat in Nottingham.
For the second week in succession, Reading produced an encouraging performance but were made to rue missed chances and sit bottom of the embryonic Championship table with no points from their first two matches.
Algerian international Hillal Soudani scored the only goal of the game with a neat finish in the 68th minute as Forest preserved their unbeaten start to the campaign.
Jon Dadi Bodvarsson was again chosen to lead the line but McNulty, a summer recruit from Coventry City, was called upon from the bench in the second half at the
City Ground to try and make the breakthrough but he could not prevent another defeat.
“It is frustrating,” said McNulty. “I think we had a lot of chances that we probably should’ve taken.
“On another day you score a couple but unfortunately it wasn’t to be. Then they’ve gone up the park and scored.
“I think it was probably a level game and a point would’ve been fair but it’s been one of those days again where we’ve come away with nothing.”
He added: “Football is a bit like that. Sometimes you need a little bit of luck and it’ll go in and sometimes it never quite happens.
“But we’ve got to be ruthless.
“We said that in the changing room that you can’t just say every week, ‘if we’d taken our chance’. No, we need to take our chances and start putting points on the board.”
Paul Clement made three changes from the opening day defeat against Derby County with Tyler Blackett, Yakou Meite and
Sam Baldock handed starts with Omar Richards, John Swift and Sone Aluko missing out.
Liam Moore, who remained at Reading following the closure of the transfer window despite wanting to leave the club, was left out of the squad again with captain Paul McShane making his 100th appearance for the Royals.
Forest, tipped to push for promotion this season having spent around £25 million on a new-look front-line, started brightly but it was the visitors who carved out the first clear opportunity.
Meite, making just the second Championship start of his career, found space in the box but his shot on the stretch was stopped by the leg of goalkeeper Costel Pantilimon.
At the other end, Tiago Ilori produced a vital last-ditch block to deny former Royal Lewis Grabban before Vito Mannone made a smart stop to deny the striker.
Jon Dadi Bodvarsson had a sniff to try and notch his second goal of the campaign before the half was out, but the first 45 minutes ended goalless.
The Icelander went closer shortly after the restart, heading a Liam Kelly free-kick just wide of the post and he broke clear minutes later but lashed off target.
Forest looked dangerous themselves with Matty Cash blazing over the crossbar and the hosts took the lead midway through the second period when the ball fell kindly for substitute Soudani in the box, who slammed into the far corner.
Reading almost fired straight back with McNulty picking out Bodvarsson, but again he could not work Pantilimon.
Clement introduced Leandro Bacuna and Omar Richards late on, but the Royals could not find a way through as their poor run in the Championship extends to just three wins in 28 games stretching back to last season.
READING: Mannone; Yiadom, Ilori, McShane (c), Blackett (Richards 83); Meite, Meyler (Bacuna 71), Kelly, Barrow; Baldock (McNulty 59), Bodvarsson.
Subs not used: Walker, O’Shea, Swift, Clement.
Yellow card: Barrow (80)
NOTTINGHAM FOREST: Pantilimon, Darikwa, Figueiredo, Fox (c), Osborn, Guedioura, Colback, Dias (Cash 56), Carvalho (Soudani 56), Lolley (Robinson 78), Grabban.
Subs not used: Dawson, Smith, Watson, Murphy.
Goal: Soudani (68)
Referee: Steve Martin Attendance: 27,948