Reading FC striker Sam Smith has vowed that the team will ‘learn lessons’ after they slipped to a home defeat against League One relegation rivals Shrewsbury Town.
The Royals had been in fine form going into the game which has helped them climb out of the relegation zone, but they were beaten at home for the first time in 2024 on Saturday.
With all the goals coming in the first-half, a manic opening nine minutes saw three goals scored as Sam Smith gave Reading hope by halving the deficit following two for the visitors in the opening six minutes.
Kelvin Ehibhatiomhan’s deflected shot got Reading level, but the winner came with the final play of the first-half to help the Shrews to maximum points.
“I think to start the game the way we did, everyone is disappointed,” said Smith.
“We worked on this in training and we didn’t start the way we wanted to. To go 2-0 down is obviously not ideal.
“It’s difficult when they score just before half-time and coming out for the second-half holding a lead.
“They slowed the game down, they sat off, and it was difficult to break them down. That’s a risk you take when you concede so late into the first-half.
“When we got it back to 2-2 we were playing good football, but the third was a sucker punch. After that start we had, to concede again made it an uphill struggle.
“Credit to Shrewsbury, they killed the atmosphere, they sat back and they closed the game out.
“It’s always difficult to come back when a team is so direct and play the way they did in the second-half.”
The Royals will be looking to get back to winning ways when they visit bottom of the table Carlisle United on Saturday.
Smith continued: “We’ve got a big game on Saturday now and we’ll learn our lessons from today (Saturday) and go into Saturday believing that we can take three points.
“There’s been a lot of games recently with Saturday and Tuesday and there’s no denying we’ve got a thin squad.
“It’s a good opportunity for the lads who have played a lot to get rested and we start focusing on Saturday now.”
