Royals boss Noel Hunt spoke in wake of his sides 1-1 draw with Shrewsbury Town on Tuesday evening in Sky Bet League One.
The Irishman was unhappy not to take all three points against a well-drilled Shrewsbury squad, but he expects his players to take away valuable lessons and a hard-fought point from the midweek game.
The complete thoughts of the Gaffer can be seen below:
“I’m frustrated, but the boys are giving their all, and we’re still in the game.” We weren’t as courageous as we’d like to be, so we talked about getting the ball down, passing, and driving to test their defenders. I just felt we didn’t perform as well as we have in recent games, so we’ll take the point and move on.
We wanted to get started quickly, as we do every game, but we were up against an experienced team who started on the front foot and put us under pressure. If you do not apply pressure back, the game becomes one in which you must dig in and defend.
Joel’s penalty save gave us a kick in the backside, but it wasn’t as fantastic as it could have been, but we battled well and hard with a youthful group, and we kept going.
Joel [Pereira] has been excellent. We tried to keep him as unemployed as possible while protecting his ‘cage,’ and I think he performed well. It’s an amazing penalty save, and his reactions were superb in getting up and saving it again. He’s a big character for us, and the boys look up to him; he’s one of the older players in the locker room, and I’m very happy for him.
Jayden [Wareham] has fit in nicely with the team. He’s working hard, and we’ve discussed a few clips where he can improve his link-up play. He is a new professional who is still learning his craft. I believe he worked extremely hard tonight and took his aim seriously.
Thank you to our supporters; we understand how difficult it might be on cold days like this evening. They dug deeper and applauded us in the end, and while we would have like to win, we’ll take the point and go on.”
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