As I've been struck down with a flu bug all week it's been able to write a match report for the hugely exciting Reading game last Saturday. So below is the report from the excellent qprnet.com web site by Simon Skinner. As a footnote to the report the reason for Adam Millers non appearance was due to the player feeling ill at lunchtime on Saturday so he was left out of the 16.

After the outstanding win at Ipswich last week it was no surprise that Olly stuck with the same starting XI. Rose and Cook had both recovered from knocks picked up at Portman Road to take their places. Royce was in goal behind Bignot, Shittu, Rose and Edghill with Rowlands, Bircham, Santos and Cook in midfield. Gallen and Furlong were up top. Generoso Rossi was selected on the bench and there was also a welcome return for Thorpe.

Steve Coppell sprang a surprise by throwing Les Ferdinand in from the start. The crowd of almost 17k were licking their lips at the prospect of a pulsating game. A large following from Reading had made the trip to see their boys play the club that made the blue and white hoops famous.

Both sides seemed content in the opening stages to fire balls up to their respective big men and try to feed on the flicks a second balls. Ferdinand was showing that he still has a prodigious leap as he beat Shittu to headers on more than one occasion. Big Dan is not used to getting beaten in the air with such regularity. He tried an audacious strike from thirty yards but it was well off target.

Paul Brooker almost opened the scoring early in the piece but his shot was easily saved by Royce. It was almost the mid point of the half when Rangers managed to fashion a half decent chance. A ball into the box from the right was flicked into the air and fell into the sights of Furlong. He lashed a fierce left footed volley across the face of goal but it failed to trouble American keeper Marcus Hahnemann.

Moments later Rangers came within a whisker of fluking a goal. Rangers were forcing a succession of corners and from one Shittu released Matthew Rose wide on the right. He attempted to swing the cross in only for former Palace man Ricky Newman to get in its path. The ball took a wicked deflection and looped over Hahnemann and bounced off the top of the bar.

With only half an hour played it was almost as if the game had petered out. Neither side had any clue about how to break down the oppositions defence and Reading’s task was made all the more difficult when Ferdinand limped off. He seemed to have tweaked his hamstring, probably when he tried his shot in the first minute! He had a face like thunder when he left the field and Reading threw on young Dean Morgan in his place.

The half time break was as welcome for the fans as it was for the players. Fifteen minutes off from watching the turgid fare that had been laid before us was the least that we deserved! After the break things briefly seemed to be picking up. Yet another corner came in and Rose connected with a header at the far post only to see the ball cleared to safety before anyone could get a meaningful connection.

Everybody was starting to get restless now and Rangers survived a scare when their defence was breached by the unmissable Dave Kitson. A scrappy attacked was launched down the right and Kitson looked to have controlled with his hand before rounding Royce and slotting home. Luckily the lino clocked it and raised his flag.

I have never seen a team commit so many handballs as Reading, they must have been pulled up five times and the same amount again were missed by referee Leake. Olly decided things needed changing and he made a host of attacking substitutions.

Ainsworth, Thorpe and Cureton replaced Edghill, Bircham and Cook as Rangers tried to up the ante late in the game. Maybe it would have been a better option to go with a more attacking team at home from the off as a central pairing of Bircham and Santos hardly gets the home pulses racing.

Cureton had a great chance to grab the glory and drive a dagger through the heart of the Reading fans that still adore him. Playing in a wide left role he was played in by a good ball from the middle of the park. The ball was bouncing in front of him and it seemed perfect to try and dip a volley over Hahnemann. Instead Curo tried to steer the ball into the path of Furlong. Unfortunately, having instigated the attack Furs found himself some twenty yards away from the pass. T

he game then just seemed to ebb away to nothing and the referee’s whistle brought some boos from the crowd, harshly in my opinion. We are simply not going to win every game and in some respects we were spoilt last season by going undefeated through an entire home programme. There will be games against decent teams that do not go our way. I think we were the better of two very average sides on the day and a moment of quality from either team would have undoubtedly won it.

I would like to see us be a bit more attacking at home, maybe when we have reached safety then we will be. I think Olly will try and move for a couple of players before the transfer window shuts at the end of March and maybe that will pep things up as it all seemed a little stale.

Many were surprised that Miller wasn’t involved. He didn’t come out for a warm down but youngster Stefan Bailey did so I wonder whether he may have had a slight knock as many were touting him to start. I think we need to get Gino back in at left back as Edghill’s distribution and attacking instincts do not compare.

The middle of the park needs to be Bircham or Santos rather than both. Other than that I think it was an off day today as nothing seemed to come off and that doesn’t happen that often.