READING FC boss Paul Ince admitted that defender Baba Rahman was ‘devastated’ after his late mistake saw the Royals lose away to Sunderland.
After a determined defensive display, Rahman hesitated in possession where he lost out to Patrick Roberts who scored the only goal of the game in the 84th minute.
However, Ince backed his player and remained adamant that they stick together as a team.
“Baba is absolutely disappointed in there,” said Ince.
“I’ve said to him we’re a team. We make mistakes, it’s not about individuals. If you make a mistake, we all make a mistake.
“He’s inconsolable in there. We played very well today. The game plan worked and we had some really good moments in the first half.
“We knew with their game on Wednesday that they would tire so it was a case of in the second-half not giving them anything to get the crowd up.
“It’s about being more clinical when we get those moments.”
Ince has now challenged his team to start picking up points to get themselves further away from the relegation zone, starting on Tuesday at home to Rotherham.
He continued: “It was a killer punch and we couldn’t do anything about it.
“Baba is absolutely devastated because he himself played very well and we all worked so hard to execute the game plan perfectly. He feels that mistake has let us down.
It hasn’t. It’s a blow for us and our fans that came down, but it’s a team game and no blaming on any individual.
“We win together, we lose together.
“We’ve got a six hour journey back home now which isn’t nice considering how the game went.
“We’ve got an opportunity to pick up points and hopefully that starts on Tuesday, but they (Rotherham) are no pushovers.”
