Sort the defence out, and we might just have a team

I was listening to TalkSport just before kick off, and I remember them saying that there was 'very little chance' of there being a goalless draw between Reading and Forest considering the amount of forwards we had at our disposal.
But, just like last year, a game that on paper promised plenty of attacking football and one or two goals turned out to be quite drab. But from our point of view, it was a very good point to start the campaign, especially as we finished the game with ten men after Luke Chambers was sent off.

I thought we played quite well, and despite the well-documented lack of defensive options we have at the moment, we did defend quite soundly, restricting Reading to very few chances. Lee Camp had a very solid game, and dealt with crosses magnificently, and he made one or two good saves, as well. Reading's finishing let them down, too, so we did get away with it a little bit, but overall we definitely deserved the point, as we had one or two chances ourselves.

Our starting line-up made quite interesting reading, as there were so many notable names missing, with Rob Earnshaw, Nathan Tyson, Paul Anderson, Lewis McGugan, and Dexter Blackstock all having to be content with a place on the bench. David McGoldrick and Dele Adebola were the lucky pair to get the nod to start up front, while Joe Garner, strangely, was asked to play on the right wing. So much for Davies' pledge to stop sticking round pegs in square holes.

Of the players making their first appearances, Paul McKenna had a promising game in the heart of midfield, and it looks like he will make a big difference there as he will bring organisation to the side. And although he started to tire towards the end, the Polish recruit Radoslaw Majewski showed some real glimpses of talent out on the left wing. McGoldrick was a little quiet, but Adebola looked very sharp, and won a lot in the air. He holds the ball up very well indeed, and if he keeps that sort of performance up, he will play more than a bit-part role this season.

When Chambers was red-carded with just a couple of minutes of normal time remaining, I conceded defeat. I thought there was no way we were going to hang on then, because we didn't have a replacement defender to come on for him, but somehow we survived a Reading onslaught in the last few minutes. I don't know what Chambers was dismissed for, but some people say he lashed out after being pushed. He had already been booked, so I guess he had to go. Perhaps something positive will come out of it, though, because it will force the Club to bring in a central defender or two, because we are dreadfully thin on the ground in that department. It's a good job we've got so many goalscorers at the club at the moment because as things stand we're going to need them just to draw games! Having said all that, we did get a clean sheet with ten men at one of the teams expected to be challenging for automatic promotion. But make no mistake, we will not get away with it for long.