READING’S winless run in the Championship stretched to five games this afternoon following a goalless draw with Wolverhampton Wanderers at Madejski Stadium.
Although not really a contest for the purists, both sides had chances to snatch all three points, but would have to settle for one each during a contest where both these mid-table sides cancelled each other out.
Royals saw a late shout for a penalty waved away too when recent signing Deniss Rakels, on for his debut as a second-half substitute, appeared to be manhandled to the ground in the box, but the officials were not interested in the appeals.
While the draw extends the unbeaten run on home soil to five games, the start of four successive league and cup fixtures at Madejski Stadium was to begin on a frustrating note.
Boss Brian McDermott made two changes to the side beaten at Ipswich Town in midweek, with the fit-again Paul McShane replacing Anton Ferdinand in defence, while Garath McCleary, on target at Portman Road, came in for the benched Stephen Quinn.
There was also a surprise place among the replacements too for Rakels, who was said to be lacking match fitness earlier in the week.
The ascendency belonged with Royals during the early exchanges, where Hal Robson-Kanu sent Jordan Obita on his way down the left, only for the full back to be blocked off by a tackle.
While on the opposite flank, a gorgeous pass from McCleary sent Chris Gunter skipping to the byline.
The defender opted to go low and hard with his centre, but Ethan Ebanks-Landell was quick to sniff out the danger and cut out the cross.
McCleary, however, would engineer the first chance of the afternoon in the eighth minute.
From a Yann Kermorgant throw on the right flank, the winger hustled his way into the box, where he was eventually stopped in his tracks by a tackle.
The ball, though, popped up nicely for Robson-Kanu, who was some 10 yards out and in a central position, to strike first time, but a recovering defender did well to get in front of the effort and divert it away for a corner.
Reading had been asking all of the questions, yet they were almost caught out when a Kevin McDonald through ball from deep got between both Obita and Jake Cooper.
But with James Henry ready to pounce, Ali Al Habsi rushed off his line and took the ball off the player’s foot.
Henry is a familiar face in these parts, having gradutaed from the club’s Academy before making the switch to Millwall back in 2010.
And the midfidler almost marked his return to Madejski Stadium with a goal. His opportunist strike from some 20 yards had Al Habsi beaten, but would clip the outside of a post.
The contest was now beginning to open up and back came Reading, with Kermorgant the next player to see a strike at goal turned away for flag kick when a Robson-Kanu cross aimed for Matej Vydra had only been cleared as far as the Frenchman.
Having cut inside, McCleary then opened up from distance, but his low drive was easy pickings for Carl Ikeme in the Wolves goal.
A fierce tackle from Conor Coady on Obita resulted in the latter being shown a yellow card, yet a clumsy challenge by the Reading player not long after saw the visitors awarded a free-kick from the edge of the hosts’ box.
Responsibility for the set piece belonged to George Saville, and he was unlucky not to open the scoring, with Al Habsi producing a fine stop at full stretch and only conceded a corner.
The ‘keeper was at it again moments later, tipping over a Bjorn Sigurdarson effort from a tight angle.
Both sides remained at stalemate as the whistle for half time was blown, but it was the away side who almost snatched the initiative minutes after the restart.
A hopeful ball over the top resulted in a mix-up between Jake Cooper and Al Habsi, which allowed Henry to steal in.
He needed the time to steady himself, but this allowed the shot-stopper to race back and brilliantly thwart the player at the near post, with the rebound flashing harmlessly over the crossbar.
While a let off for the hosts, it was another moral victory for Al Habsi in what was becoming a personal battle with Henry.
Looking to freshen things up, McDermott withdrew McCleary for Ola John, and it was his run and cross, via a touch from Vydra, which saw Oliver Norwood go close to opening the scoring.
It was a swift move from Royals, with the Northern Ireland international only just wide with a strike from the edge of the box, which glanced an opponent on the way and saw a corner given.
Yet up the other end and two chances came and went for Wanderers, with Coady horribly wide over on the left before Ebanks-Landell hooked a half volley over the bar from a corner.
But the play soon swug the opposite direction, where a late challenge by Saville on Norwood saw the former booked – but the Royals midfielder failed to trouble Ikeme with the resulting free-kick, which struck the wall.
Determined work from Robson-Kanu saw the attacker drive to the byline, where his pull back was intercepted by an opponent, while another clever dink from the same player was just too high for Vydra, who had rolled off his marker at the far post.
Vydra though, was to play no further part, as he was the player sacrificed to allow Rakels to make his debut, whose first involvement in English football was to break up a Wolves attack.
But the Latvian could only watch on as Wanderers’ Sigurdarson wriggled his way into space inside the box, only for a last-ditch block from McShane preventing the striker from finding the bottom corner.
A counter attack led by Williams, however, would come to nothing when a cross from John was dealt with by Dominic Iorfa before a Coady strike at the other end was kept out by a clutch of bodies.
The action remained end to end, and the majorty of the 17,000-plus crowd were up on their feet screaming for a penalty when Rakels went down under a challenge, but referee Tony Harrington was having none of it.
Despite claimes earlier in the week the new signing was lacking fitness, Rakels was full of energy, hassling Ebanks-Landell to win a throw in before his nod down from a ball pumped forward found an unmarked Kermorgant lurking on the edge of the penalty area.
The striker took a touch before unleashing a half volley which flew just wide of an upright and hitting the stanchion behind the net.
READING: Al Habsi, Gunter, McShane (c), Cooper, Obita, Norwood, Williams, Robson-Kanu, Vydra (Rakels 79), Kermorgant, McCleary (John 58)
Booked: McShane
Subs not used: Bond, Hector, Ferdinand, Piazon, Quinn
WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS: Ikeme, Doherty, Batth (c), Henry, Saville, McDonald, Coady, Van La Parra (Byrne 79), Iorfa, Sigurdarson, Ebanks-Landell
Subs not used: Mason, Rowe, Price, Deslandes, Le Fondre, McCarey
Booked: Coady, Saville
Referee: Tony Harrington
Attendance: 17,771 (1,805 away).
