Brian McDermott was pleased with a point after watching Reading battle back to earn a last-gasp draw against Stoke.
Reading boss pleased after side fightback for opening day point
Brian McDermott was pleased with a point after watching Reading battle back to earn a last-gasp draw against Stoke.
Adam Federici gifted Michael Kightly a goal on his Stoke debut but the Royals kept plugging away and new signing Garath McCleary earned a penalty after being caught in the box by Dean Whitehead, who was sent off for a second bookable offence.
Adam Le Fondre scored from the spot and McDermott felt his side merited an equaliser.
He told
Sky Sports: "I thought that (a draw) was the least we deserved and I thought first half hour we were the better side then Stoke scored and it was difficult.
"We had a flat spell after that second half with the conditions for both sides, it was difficult to get our tempo out there.
Kept going
"But we kept going and got the late goal and the point and we have to be pleased with that today."
McDermott also praised the home fans for getting behind his side until the end of the game.
"Great support from our fans today who got behind us right to the death, they always do that because they know our players they keep going, they try to win games and they score late goals."
McDermott refused to criticise Federici after his howler, saying: "He's a top-class guy, he's a top-class goalkeeper - he made a mistake, we all make mistakes and we move on very, very quickly and Adam moved on quickly and that's what he does and I have no problem with him, he's a first-class guy and goalkeeper."
