READING FC manager Noel Hunt has urged his team to ‘keep their heads up’ ahead of two critical games in the Championship relegation battle.
The Royals lost out at Coventry City which means they remain in the relegation places with two games left to play.
They trail QPR by four points and are a point behind Huddersfield and a point behind Cardiff who both have a game in hand.
“We had to throw caution to the wind (in the second-half,” said Hunt.
“We identified their players of quality and they started the game better than us.
“We scored a good goal and then switched off. We have to deal with it better with a sharper mindset.
“We had chances near the end of the game that we couldn’t latch onto.”
Reading are now in desperate need of wins and play Wigan Athletic next Saturday at home before an away trip to Huddersifled on the final day of the season.
Hunt continued: “We have to keep going. The boys understand what is at stake.
“We can’t focus on other teams around us but focus on ourselves. Full focus is on us and how we will get a result against Wigan next week.
“We’ve got to make sure we prepare properly, have a solid game plan and try to execute it.
“Meite is on the grass this week so we will wait and see if he is ready for next week, but maybe the week after.
“We keep on pushing.
“It was a gamble we needed to take. He (Shane Long) made us a handful and he came through it ok and we see how he goes through the week.
“They’re disappointed. With four or five mins to go they felt there was one more chance in the game, it’s not time to keep your heads down, get your heads up and we go again next week.”
