JAAP STAM insists Reading do not have one foot in the play-off final despite avoiding defeat to Fulham at Craven Cottage.
Royals took the lead through Jordan Obita before Tom Cairney headed in for the hosts to tie the game 1-1 heading into Tuesday night’s second leg.
And speaking to the media after the final whistle, Stam discussed a late red card for Paul McShane, Obita being stretchered off and the tie as a whole.
On McShane’s red card…
Macca is very important for us. In the season he had some injuries as well. He’s been out the last couple of weeks as well so he had to step up and they’ve done well as well. We can still win a game without Paul McShane. Macca is a very important piece in the puzzle but the other players can do that job as well. We are very confident that we can still do well.
I’ve seen it back. He hits the player. He’s not a player that kicks people on purpose. He’s a tough player and he wants to go for that ball. You see in the tackle that he’s trying to reach the ball but the player (McDonald) nicked it in front of him and he hit the player on the knee.
I would’ve been happier if he gave a yellow card but he pulled a red card so then you need to deal with it. Danny Williams got a red card here last time for some reason.
On if it’s advantage Reading…
I’m not going to be talking about that because then the headlines have been made already. Before this game people were talking about Fulham and not about us. It’s up to you what you write. We know what we can do, you’ve seen that today and throughout the season. We’re very confident in our squad. Fulham have a very talented team and they’ve shown that again. Ok we’ve got the home advantage but it doesn’t guarantee that you’re going to win. You still need to work very hard.
It’s not all about ability, it’s not all about quality, it’s about your mind. It’s about dealing with the stress, it’s about playing with your heart and how badly you want to have a result. That’s very important in these games and I’ve been there myself. These games are different to when you play in the league.
When you play 10 v 11 you know it’s going to be hard. But everybody knows by now that we can defend and we’ve done it well. We ended the game 1-1 so you can say that’s a good result. But everything is still open, everything can happen on Tuesday.
On Liam Kelly…
Liam Kelly was ill. He’s still ill today. That’s why he wasn’t in the squad but hopefully he can recover and can be available for Tuesday.
On if there was extra motivation because Reading were being written off…
I haven’t read one paper myself. We think about ourselves, what we need to do and we’ve got confidence in ourselves. I don’t think it’s wise as a player to read papers and read what are people saying about us. The motivation needs to come from yourself and what you want to achieve as a player and not what people are writing.
On Jordan Obita’s injury…
He twisted his ankle. Fredericks came bombing forward, he tried to block that cross or shot and there was no tension on the ankle so it twisted. We need to have a look today at how he feels.
Jordan and Macca are very important for us but we’ve got a big squad. We’ve got choices and players who can play in those positions so I’m not over worried.
