Adkins savours valuable point

13 December 2009 11:41
Grzegorz Rasiak headed the Royals into the lead in the 16th minute and it looked as if they were set to pick up what would have been only their second home win out of 11 Championship matches.[LNB]But Gary Hooper's equaliser 10 minutes from time secured a point for othe visitors and ensured Reading's poor home form continued.[LNB]Adkins was delighted with his players' efforts at the Madejski Stadium.[LNB]He said: "We came with a counter-attacking plan to get something from the game and we have done that.[LNB]"We showed great character and commitment from a small and close-knit group of players.[LNB]"Reading are an exceptionally good footballing side who will cut teams to pieces, but the lads worked hard for each other.[LNB]"I think we are much better equipped to stay in the Championship than we were last time we came up.[LNB]"Today I am going to say thank you very much, we have picked up a valuable point. We showed great spirit, character and endeavour to be the best you can be."[LNB]Reading manager Brendan Rodgers expressed his frustrated at the two dropped points and admitted his team should have put the game beyond their guests long before the equaliser was scored.[LNB]He said: "I thought the boys played really well and the performance level was good.[LNB]"It's very frustrating. Scunthorpe's goal should only have been a consolation for them but it turned out to be their equaliser.[LNB]"It's great experience for the younger players who will be learning from this game. At least we are creating goalscoring opportunities and Gylfi (Sigurdsson) alone had seven or eight chances.[LNB]"The crowd are frustrated, but they have been great because they can see we have young players, can see what we are trying to do and how we are going to be."[LNB]Hooper's seventh goal of the season punished Reading for failing to take their chances, with Alex Pearce and Gylfi Sigurdsson both hitting the bar as the Royals searched for only their second home league win of the season.[LNB]Until then, Rasiak's first-half goal had looked like it would be enough to earn Reading only their second home league win this term.[LNB]The Pole's presence troubled Scunthorpe early on and he was rewarded with his sixth goal of the campaign in the 16th minute, climbing higher than Marcus Williams to head home a neat chipped pass from Hal Robson-Kanu.[LNB]Sigurdsson drew a great save from Josh Lillis in the 35th minute with the keeper, a replacement for the suspended Joe Murphy, diving full length to his right to push the Icelander's free-kick wide of the upright.[LNB]When the corner came into the penalty area Reading centre-back Pearce lashed his left-footed effort against the bar.[LNB]Scunthorpe kept battling away and were rewarded when Josh Wright's pass caused confusion in Reading's defence, allowing Hooper to score his late equaliser.[LNB]There was still time for Sigurdsson to hit the Scunthorpe bar again from a free-kick with three minutes remaining and then Scunthorpe substitute Jonathan Forte missed a chance to grab a dramatic stoppage-time winner for the visitors.[LNB][LNB][LNB]

Source: Team_Talk