READING FC manager Veljko Paunovic admitted that he felt ‘embarrassed’ after the Royals’ crushing defeat at home to Fulham.
“It was a horrible and disappointing night,” said Paunovic after Reading shipped seven goals without reply to Fulham.
“The word that describes how I feel and how everyone feels is embarrassment.
“It’s a very difficult time. The way we handle ourselves and deal with this is a huge test and determines the shape and mentality moving forward.
“I want to encourage everyone to keep believing and calm down.
“We can accept all the blame but have to remind ourselves we’ve been given a very difficult task to deal with so many things that are a consequence of today.”
The Serian boss reiterated his belief that he is the right person for the job and believes his team is capable of surviving relegation.
He continued: “If you want to look up, you have to win points.
“People are concerned and I don’t want to raise that, but we are where we are right now but I believe the team is capable of getting out of this situation.
“January will be hard because we have what we have, players who are returning but not in shape and important players who are injured.
“Everything today was wrong. That mentality won’t help. We have to fix this immediately and we are fighting the best we can in this situation.”
The Royals boss commented on the injury suffered to Scott Dann that forced him off the pitch after just five minutes.
“It was unrelated to Saturday.
“At this point, I know how people think. We all look for excuses or reasons to blame.
“He has his own programme and works with our fitness coach. Everyone has a right for their opinion but it’s something that cannot be seen from that perspective.
“It’s so superficial and I won’t comment anymore on that. I don’t think it’s the reason why he got injured today.”
