Forward reviews point on the road
Harvey Knibbs was on the scoresheet once again as his tenth goal of the season in all competitions earned Reading a draw away at Lincoln CIty.
The Royals had fell behind after just three minutes when Nelson Abbey could do nothing but turn Ted Bishop's cross into his own net.
Reading responded well to the set-back with a positive performance, with Knibbs drawing the side level just after half-time with a smart finish from a perfectly weighted Jeriel Dorsett through ball.
Here is what he said to say after the match:
It was a difficult start, we have got to start the game better, simple as that. We have normally been a team who have started the first half well, but we didn’t get going, I don’t think we won any of those duels in the first five minutes and we got punished, so first and foremost we have got to start the game better but I think from that moment on we controlled the first half, very harsh decisions on the first two disallowed goals, I’ve seen them at half-time, I think on the first one it should have stood, I don’t really think there was a push and the second one unfortunately the goalie has come up so I think that means that Paul is therefore offside, it should go in really, one-all, so it felt a bit harsh that way.
We responded really well, we know we haven’t been good enough this season in the second half so it was important that we had a strong second half and I think we did, got the goal which was good but we just couldn’t find that final action to win the game.
In the league we had the win at Wycombe, and now a draw against a team that is on a great run and a team that has an unbelievable home record, I think it took three-quarters of the season last year for them to even lose here, so go toe-to-toe, I think in the end, we would have been the deserving winners.
I started having the conversation with Jeriel during the whole game that the slide pass was on, we tried it a couple times during the first half and it was just off so fair play to him, he has kept trying, the weight was perfect, it allowed me to get round it and slot into the goal.
Incredible ball, something we have worked on in training, you can see we are trying it in the game. I’m happy to have a goal come from the left side.
It is a good accolade to hit double figures this early, this side of December but it makes me even hungrier, I want to get another ten before the end of the season, when these goals can equal points like they did today I can preferably get another one with the last chance and make it three points, but we will keep going.
We have seen a change on the pitch since the change of shape against Portsmouth, we have gone up in most games and even if we have gone behind we have showed great character in the team, we are just battling away but realistically we need to start turning these moments and draws where we dominate into wins.
I feel like that this is closer to my best position, most of my time at Cambridge was played in that ten position, it is like a left 8, the gaffer, fair play to him, gives me that freedom in and out of possession to roam into spaces where I feel like I can affect the game, making runs like that for the goal, it allows me to enhance my game, out of possession I am able to press and read where I want to jump, it just allows me to take my game on and really feel comfortable in this eleven.
Recovery is massive, I think we have had four games in the space of two weeks, and we can see it has taken a toll on some of the lads, we will take a couple of days over the weekend to just reset and heal all those bumps and bruises and really build up to that Wigan game, we know we have now got another couple really tough fixtures where we need to get results.
We have got to back up these results, we have now had two draws in a row against two very good teams, we need to back it up for a third time against another in-form team, we have got Peterborough after that, it is just about showing early signs of a good team.
The fans were unbelievable, just chanting the whole game, I think they actually outsung the home fans here which is credit to them, they always travel in their numbers despite our poor away record at the start of the season, love them.