Reading manager Paul Ince blamed his players for being too “passive” after half-time as they threw away a 2-0 lead to draw 2-2 with Championship play-off rivals QPR.
Two goals from on-loan Newcastle Jeff Hendrick gave dominant Reading a comfortable interval advantage.
However, a revitalised QPR deservedly snatched a share of the points in the second half with a brace of goals from Tyler Roberts.
“We were just passive in the second half,” Ince said. “And I wasn’t too pleased with the first half, to be honest.
“As much as you go in 2-0 up, we didn’t really kick the ball like I wanted them to and we made some silly mistakes. Then again, we had created enough chances to have put the game to bed.
“OK, Rangers had a couple of skirmishes in the first half, but overall you’re coming in at half-time and I’m quite content.
“There was a lot of things that we could improve on in the second half but, every time we’re winning games, we seem to have this tendency to drop deep.
“We keep trying to defend it [the lead] and all you do is just invite pressure on yourselves. And you can’t keep getting away with it.
“In the second half, especially for the goals, there was a lack of positioning, a lack of communication and people were not winning headers. It was poor.”
Ince was unhappy that referee Darren Bond did not award his side a penalty when Shane Long fell in the area after tangling with Rob Dickie in the 50th minute, with Reading still 2-0 ahead.
“That was a blatant penalty,” Ince said. “That could have made it 3-0 and the game is finished. That’s the bottom line.
“It was blatant and another poor decision going against us again. You can watch it time and time again, and I understand that referees have tough jobs.
“Shane has run across him [Dickie], he’s been taken over and the penalty has not been given. That’s 3-0, game over.”
QPR have won only once in 11 Championship matches and head coach Neil Critchley was disappointed they failed to come away with maximum points.
“Yes, it was a good fightback,” he said. “A point was the least that we deserved from the game.
“To be honest, we didn’t do a great deal wrong in the first half. We had good control of the game and several promising situations up in the final third, but too many times we failed with our decision making.
“But then their lad [Hendrick] produced a moment of real quality for the first goal with a strike from outside the box.
“At that point in time we hadn’t really done a lot wrong. But then they break and score again.
“From 2-0 down at half-time we had to show real fight and courage and believe in ourselves as a group. And that’s what we did.
“I said that if we get the third goal, which we were capable of doing, then the momentum would change and it would be with us.
“I was really proud of them in the second half. We played with real purpose, we ran forward hard and scored two good goals.
“If any team deserved to pick up all three points, I think that was us.”
