David Wagner criticises Rajiv van la Parra after Terriers lose at Reading

24 September 2016 17:23

Huddersfield head coach David Wagner criticised Dutch winger Rajiv van La Parra for his foolish first-half dismissal in the 1-0 defeat at Reading.

Van La Parra was dismissed in the 26th minute, just three minutes after he had been cautioned for a foul.

Though he had earned Huddersfield a free-kick, he continued to harangue referee James Linington and was shown red for dissent.

"We don't have to use too many words about this situation," Wagner said. "Rajiv knows that this was a mistake. He knows that this was not correct.

"Mistakes happen in football and this was a big one. Anything more I have to say about this, I will speak with him internally.

"The referee was right in this decision. Rajiv has to react in a different way in this moment."

Huddersfield slipped from first to second place in the Sky Bet Championship.

"I was disappointed about the result but proud about the performance," Wagner added. "We were the better team in the second half.

"Even with one man less, we were still able to try for the equaliser or even win the game. We accept this and go forward.

"We know that we have deserved every point that we have got until now. But we are still hungry and greedy for more."

Reading, now undefeated in eight matches in all competitions, almost went in front soon after the dismissal, when John Swift struck a post from 30 yards.

But they did go ahead in the 41st minute, when Roy Beerens' far-post effort wickedly deflected off Tommy Smith and flew past goalkeeper Danny Ward.

Reading flattered to deceive after the break, though Ward saved well from Stephen Quinn, and Huddersfield launched a fierce late rally.

Nahki Wells, twice, Michael Hefele and Elias Kachunga all went close to the equaliser but to no avail.

"It was a hard, very tough game," manager Jaap Stam said. "We knew it was going to be like that from the start.

"Huddersfield are a tough side as a unit, as a team. And they also have some quality players.

"We wanted to play our own game and find a solution of how we could break them.

"We pressed them high up the pitch. Sometimes we succeeded, sometimes we didn't. We can do a lot better than that.

"Before the red card, we should have moved the ball a lot quicker. We didn't do that very well. And it was always going to be difficult against 10 men.

"Eight games unbeaten and in fourth place, no, I did not expect this at the start of the season. We didn't think anything, to be fair.

"We knew what we wanted to do and what we wanted to achieve eventually. There's still a long way to go and it's not going to be easy."

Source: PA-WIRE