Soccer
Leam Richardson believes Reading are getting better and better
Reading manager Leam Richardson believes that his side put in a better performance in their 3-1 League One victory over Blackpool than in the 5-0 rout of Mansfield three days earlier.
Goals from George Earthy and Kyreece Lisbie, his first for the club, gave Reading a 2-0 lead early in the second half.
Although Leighton Clarkson reduced the deficit with 10 minutes left, Jacob Brown struck in the fourth minute of stoppage time.
“I enjoyed that,” Richardson said. “Full credit goes to the players.
“On the back of Wednesday [Mansfield game], I thought that we played better today than we did then, to be honest.
“To back up a win in this league, to go back to back, is really pleasing.
“You’re playing against good teams who [like Blackpool] will always have a certain period in the game.
“In the first half, I thought that we were really dominant. And we started the second half the same.
“I was a bit disappointed with the Blackpool goal but, like Wednesday, I thought we had some strong individual performances and collectively as well.
“I said to the boys after the game that, in those moments where we feel that we have to score with every turnover and every attack, I think that we can manage the game a little bit more.
“But from the start of the season, we have been a little bit more willing to give a little bit of possession for more penetration.
“We had 19 shots on their goal.
“I might sound a little bit boring but I’m only as good as my players and when you’ve got good players on the pitch then, of course, you’re a good coach.
“Long may that continue.”
Reading moved up from 14th place in League One to eighth while Blackpool, after a second successive defeat, dropped from third to 11th.
“It’s been a gruelling week,” Tangerines head coach Ian Evatt said. “And that showed with that performance today.
“We lacked the same intensity and the same energy that we’ve been playing with.
“When we dip below those levels, then it becomes very difficult.
“We had a lot of control in the game but it was possession with no purpose and all at one speed – until we scored.
“The difference is that when we scored, it was 2-0 and not 1-0. Even then, we had them on the ropes.
“But their last goal gives it a bit of a false reflection, given how many bodies we were throwing forward at the end.
“Wednesday [2-1 defeat at Barnsley] hurt and we put so much into that game.
“It’s been a tough week and I’m trying to make sense in my own mind as to why the energy levels have dropped.”
