Barnsley boss bemoans familiar story as Reading defeat extends winless run to 10 games
Barnsley boss Markus Schopp was left to bemoan a familiar story as his Reds side lost 1-0 at Reading, extending their run without victory to 10 league games.
The Reds remained inside the Championship bottom three after John Swift scored the only goal of the game for Reading. But the Reds spurned a number of chances, most notably through Cauley Woodrow.
Callum Brittain also struck a post for Schopp’s men early in the second period, before Swift secured Reading's win with a superb solo effort in the 77th minute - his eighth goal of the season.
That is one more than the Reds have managed in the league so far this season and Schopp said: "I saw a Barnsley team that tried its best in a difficult situation to get the best result," head coach Markus Schopp said.
"When you are in a situation like we are right now, it's not that easy.
"I don't know how many times we tried to get in Reading's box to finish well, to get a goal. But it just didn't happen. It's a film that we have already seen so many times this season.
"After 60 or 70 minutes, we had the situation when we were struggling in a certain position in the midfield and we had to make a substitution.
"At this moment, we lost for a couple of minutes our organisation and this was enough today for a team like Reading to beat us.
"We tried to get back into it, even in the last few minutes. But scoring for us is a really tough thing to do right now. We tried to go for it to the very last minute but we just couldn't do it.
"Teams like Reading - and other teams - have that quality to take an advantage from this moment that we are having.
"We have already paid a lot in these moments this season. And today, again, we lost a game that we probably shouldn't have lost."
Reading boss Veljko Paunovic admitted his side’s victory was "a bit of a relief", adding: “Barnsley made it tough for us. In terms of physicality, that was one of our toughest games."