‘I’m disappointed’ Ruben Selles reacts to Reading FC’s defeat to Exeter City

Reading FC manager Ruben Selles believes his side deserved a point following their 2-1 loss at Exeter City on Saturday afternoon.

The Royals fell victim to a stoppage time winner from Reece Cole in the 93rd minute.

Of the result, Selles said: “I’m disappointed. The way we started the game, we were too open, we were not intense enough and we were not in the tempo or organisation in which we want to play. The first 30 minutes until we conceded the goal we struggled.

“After that, we took control of the game, we scored the first goal. We made a couple of mistakes, but I think we controlled the second half.

“We had a couple of chances to go in front, we didn’t, and from another mistake we conceded from the edge of the box.”

When asked if he thought Reading deserved to draw the game, the Spaniard said: “I think so, I think so. But it’s a game, and this can happen if you don’t score the goal, the opponent scored the goal. We just need to know how to play those situations.”

The Royals piled on the pressure in the second half, with winger Femi Azeez notaly coming close to scoring on a number of occasions, hitting the post before firing just wide moments later.

Of Azeez, the Reading boss said: “We need to help him with some strategies, but he’s working on it. He’s gets into some fantastic positions to score, he can accelerate the game, he can move himself in tight spaces, big spaces, he can press and I think he we have a really good player in Femi.

Centre-back Tyler Bindon has forged a formidable partnership alongside stand-in captain Nelson Abbey in recent weeks, but was missing from the squad which travelled to Exeter.

“He got a concussion in training yesterday so he went directly to the hospital to check it,” Selles explained.

“He was away from the game today, he will be away from the cup game. We will see if we can recover him for Cambridge.”

New signing Paul Mukairu was substituted on and off in the space of nine minutes; Selles confirmed he had twisted his ankle, slipping on the border between the grass pitch and surrounding artificial layering.

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READING FC suffered stoppage time heartbreak on Saturday afternoon, conceding in the 93rd minute to lose 2-1 to Exeter City.

The Grecians took a first half lead through Will Aimson after Reading failed to deal with a corner, but Harvey Knibbs restored parity just before the interval with a composed finish.

But with both sides pushing until the last, it was Reece Cole who grabbed the all-important decider, firing home from inside the box.

Reading boss Ruben Selles was forced into two personnel changes with Tyler Bindon suffering concussion in training and Mamadi Camara unavailable to make the trip down – the pair were replaced by Harlee Dean and Femi Azeez respectively.

The Grecians had made a strong start to their League One campaign, registering two wins, a draw and a loss in their opening four fixtures, and came into the match-up in seventh position.

There were a couple of familiar faces in Exeter’s squad, with former Royals Zak Jules and Pierce Sweeney featuring from the start.

Despite taking a few minutes to get going, the visitors were presented with the first meaningful chance of the encounter. Caylan Vickers’ persistence earned his side a free-kick 25 yards from goal, but Charlie Savage could only fire over.

The midfielder took a second bite at the cherry moments later when a perfectly executed cut-back by Harvey Knibbs fell to him on the edge of the box. Going with his weaker right foot, the shot wasn’t struck firmly enough to beat Vil Sinisalo in Exeter’s goal.

Grecians boss Gary Caldwell saw his side come inches from opening the scoring with Tom Carroll and Zak Jules coming close, before Jack Aitchson struck the post. The forward’s effort rebounded back into the danger zone, but David Button reacted quickest and pounced on the ball before any Exeter player could.

The stopper was called into action two minutes later to acrobatically deny Ryan Trevitt, whose curled right-footed effort looked destined for the top right corner.

But Button’s resistance was finally broken a minute later as Reading failed to clear their lines after a short corner – Carroll’s cross found an Aimson who headed home from close range.

The Royals’ most recent league visit to St James Park came 30 years ago – where they edged the Grecians in a thrilling 6-4 League Division 2 tie – and Selles’ side looked determined to replicate the result, restoring parity just before the break.

Femi Azeez broke free down the right and picked out Harvey Knibbs inside the box, who sat his marker down, composed himself, then struck the ball firmly past Sinisalo.

Selles made a double change at the interval, introducing new signing Ben Elliott and Andy Yiadom in place of Vickers and Amadou Mbengue, and could have seen his side take the lead after Kelvin Ehibhatiomhan failed to convert a header from the edge of the six-yard box.

All four corners of a sold-out St James Park rose to applaud the late Eamonn Dolan in the 48th minute. The Irishman enjoyed success as Exeter boss and Reading Academy director before he died in 2016 – the tribute was fitting for a man who had left an indelible legacy at both clubs.