It had been a long 24 days for me as a Reading fan. Our last Premier League game was all the way back in August, where we put up a brave and heartening displayed against the champions of Europe, Chelsea. Although we lost 4-2, I was immensely proud of the team’s spirit. Roll on almost a month later, and we have the exact opposite. A dire 3-1 defeat to a fragile Spurs team. The game threw up many lessons for us if we are to survive in this league.

Things already got off to a bad start for us even before a ball was kicked. First choice ‘keeper Adam Federici was not in the squad, as he was nursing a knock in midweek but manager Brian McDermott said he was fit enough to feature. Yet on match day, Alex McCarthy was preferred. Federici put up a post on photo sharing website Instagram showing that he was in the dressing room with all his kit and said that he wasn’t injured. Not a good way to boost morale before the start of a big game, with many whispers that the Australian had been dropped due to his poor form; he was also not even in the match squad with experienced bench warmer Stuart Taylor fulfilling his role.

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