Reading 2 Wolves 1: Royals end poor run in the Championship to boost play-off hopes
PAUL McSHANE headed the winner to keep Reading in a play-off spot — but boss Jaap Stam is still not backing his side to finish in the top six.
Wolves, who had Mike Williamson sent off five minutes from time, crashed to their sixth defeat in a row and are just a point clear of the relegation zone.
Reading were forced to work hard to battle past Wolves 2-1Reuters
But Paul Lambert’s side gave the Royals enough of a run for their money to leave Stam feeling a bit jittery ahead of Tuesday’s date with leaders Newcastle. The Dutchman said: “Finishing in the top six, it’s difficult.
“You can’t stop players from thinking about it because it’s normal if you’re at a certain stage of the season and you’re in the top six.
“People around the club were even talking about automatic promotion — but that’s not going to happen.
“We still need to learn and we still need to improve a lot. Even for us to end up in the top six, it’s going to be very hard.”
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It took 39 minutes for either side to manage a shot on target, Wolves keeper Carl Ikeme easily collecting John Swift’s free-kick.
Wolves nearly snatched the lead seconds later when Roman Saiss’ header was scooped off the line by Ali Al Habsi.
Jaap Stam’s side mustered a 2-1 win over ten-man Wolves at the MadejskiReuters
If the Championship had goal-line technology, Wolves believed they would have been celebrating.
But the game really burst into life at the start of the second half as the teams traded goals in the space of two minutes.
eading’s Yann Kermorgant stuck out a foot to divert Danny Williams’ weak shot into the opposite corner for his ninth goal of the season.
Wolves slipped deeper into their relegation battle in defeat on SaturdayReuters
Goals from Yann Kermorgant and Paul McShane sealed the win for ReadingReuters
Wolves hit back almost immediately as Ben Marshall poked home Nouha Dicko’s cross.
Reading looked on the ropes as the visitors bossed the next 20 minutes.
But George Saville bundled Yakou Meite over and McShane nodded in Swift’s free-kick.
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When Williamson was sent off as Kermorgant appeared to run into him, Wolves knew their luck was out.
Lambert moaned: “The winning goal was offside. The big moments, the officials have got to call them right.
“We know we’re playing well enough to get out of it. If we keep playing like that, we’ll be fine.”
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