Reading boss Paul Ince branded his players 'mentally weak' after their 'wake-up call' against Sunderland. The Black Cats cruised to a 3-0 win against the Royalst, who previously boasted a 100 percent record at the Madejski Stadium this season.
Sunderland's victory was all the more impressive given that all three of their goals - two of which came from Patrick Roberts and the other from Jack Clarke - came after Ellis Simms had limped off with a toe injury 10 minutes before half-time. That left Tony Mowbray's men without a fit senior striker, as leading scorer Ross Stewart is currently sidelined for at least six weeks with a thigh problem.
Reading had made a good start to the season and remain fourth in the table, one point and two places above the Black Cats, but Ince gave a withering assessment of his team's performance. "It looked a tired - which we shouldn't be saying as we had the Watford game called off [at the weekend, following the death of Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II] - and nervous performance," he said.
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"It's disappointing. You can't win all your games but I said to the lads a couple of days ago, we need to be on it.
"We're not good enough not to be on it. From the first minute, we were nervous, defending deep. We didn't get into midfield, onto the second balls and we weren't competitive or aggressive enough.
"They wanted it more than us. We didn't hold the ball up up front and all the things that have got us to where we are now, was not there so that's disappointing.
"Maybe it's a good result for us as it gets everyone back on the ground. Our target is to stay in the league and because we've had such a good start you hear people talking about play-offs and all that crap.
"I could just sense it around the stadium, the club ... maybe the players too. You've won four on the bounce at home and playing Sunderland who have only just come up, maybe they got nervous but I don't know why because it's only nine games into the season.
"All that talk - I don't like it. People getting over the top.
"This has brought us back down to Earth. We have to stay in the league and to do that we have to compete and fight to win.
"You have to do the basics but we didn't do that. The disappointing thing is if you go back to Rotherham and Sheffield United - when we concede two goals we capitulate.
"We are mentally weak - people start doing their own thing, become individuals - and that's going back to last year. The only way we can get results is if we do the basics right.
"We did nothing like that. We had a couple of chances - Fornah and Meite should have scored - but we're losing headers at the back to Pritchard who is 5ft 7in.
"We didn't win anything in midfield or hold anything up top. There is not one player on the pitch who can say he had a good game.
"They were hungrier than us, showed more desire and determination ... I've told them that, get your feet back on the ground, focus on staying in the league, be competitive and we'll re-address it in March. I won't be too harsh because if we look at it - four wins out of five at home and 15 points - you'd take it all day long.
"But it's the manner of the defeats I don't like and this was that time. Hopefully it's come at the right time. People can get their feet back on the ground and need to understand where we are.
"We have a threadbare squad and it's going to be a tough season so this is a wake-up call for everybody."
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