Reading FC manager Veljko Paunovic remained ‘proud’ of his side after defeat to unbeaten league leaders Bournemouth.
Dominic Solanke and Jamal Lowe netted to send the Royals down to 16th in the Championship table after three successive defeats
“I’m proud of my team,” said Paunovic.
“I think we showed today that most of the game is what we want to have. We want to recover the identity and intensity.
“We were very good on the ball and sharp in moments in the game and created a lot of opportunities, except the final product that wasn’t there today.
“But I believe this is the way to play against top of the table teams, a team that is unbeaten and in very good form with a lot of quality.
“In the first half when we built our momentum I was expecting us to score but we missed those chances.”
Despite Paunovic’s praise of his team’s desire, he reiterated the importance of finishing their chances to win matches.
He continued: “They had a better outcome from their opportunities.
“What went wrong was missing the opportunities to take the lead which we could have had.
“And after that in the second-half we had the first chance, Puscas had a very good opportunity but it’s another moment you can level the game and comeback.
“We were consistent and our game plan kept going. When we got on the ball we were dangerous but unfortunately we didn’t get a result.
“It’s obvious our options from the bench are limited. The young players we have are put out there and some of them get injured because it is too soon for some of them.
“It could be dangerous for them and that won’t help the team.
“When we believe somebody can help the team, that’s the most important thing when the team believes they can help.
“That’s the decision behind making just one substitution.”
