READING FC fell to a humbling 4-0 defeat at the hands of lowly Stoke on Saturday afternoon.
The Potters took the lead through Will Smallbone after Andy Yiadom was dispossessed on the edge of the box.
Tyrese Campbell doubled Stoke’s lead in the 57th minute when his strike beat Joe Lumley thanks to a wicked deflection off Tom Holmes.
Late goals from Jacob Brown and Dwight Gayle compounded further misery on the Royals, in what was their third 4-0 defeat of the season.
Joe Lumley 6: Made a decent stop on the stroke of half time to deny Smallbone a second. Could not have done much more.
Junior Hoilett 5: The more positive of the two wing backs but ultimately unable to create anything of real quality.
Andy Yiadom 5: Got dispossessed far too easily for the opener. Tried to bring the ball forward but never did so with any authority.
Tom Holmes 5: Unfortunate to take Campbell’s strike away from Lumley. Was replaced by Dann.
Tom McIntyre 4: Had no idea where Brown was for the third goal. Was not the first time he’d let a teasing ball in from the left evade him.
Baba Rahman 4: Never looked convincing marking Brown with the ball over the top beating him time and time again.
Tyrese Fornah 6: Probably the pick of the midfielders. Had the presence of mind to progress the ball forward on his return but often took too many touches.
Mamadou Loum 4: Poor. Lost possession too often and also struggled with the defensive side.
Jeff Hendrick 5: Didn’t affect the game in the way he did against QPR.
Tom Ince 5: Not the midfielder’s best showing with very little coming off for him on the day. The effort was there, at the very least.
Yakou Meite 5: Had very little impact on the game. At least tested the keeper, earning his side a corner with one of the Royals’ few shots on target.
Scott Dann 4: Struggled to keep up with the guile of Stoke’s front line.
Lucas Joao 4: Added very little once introduced to the game.
Femi Azeez 5: Looked to get in behind Stoke’s defence.
Shane Long 5: Tried to create problems for Jagielka, but the damage had already been done.
Nesta Guinness-Walker: N/A
Subs: Bouzanis, Mbengue
