Frustrating to see negativity rewarded, the game's biggest moments and a Peterborough United team to play at Rotherham United on New Year's Day

They played very well and ran all over Reading for large parts of the 1-1 League One draw at the Weston Homes Stadium, but weak finishing and one horrible defensive blunder followed by an immediate lack of defensive concentration cost them a fifth win in a row. There was also some heroic defending and some excellent goalkeeping from the visitors so a frustrating night wasn’t all down to the Posh players,

Every point is crucial in this maddest of League One seasons. Reading are 10th in League One, on the same points total as Posh who are 14th, and yet are just three points above the relegation places. Posh have 29 points and reach the halfway point in their season at struggling Rotherham United on New Year’s Day. A win there and Posh would be on course for a 64-point season and yet it feels like they have yet to leave the relegation scrap behind.

There appears to be little point in looking at the League One table right now. Mansfield were in the bottom four at the start of Boxing Day and are now 11th!

TALKING POINTS FROM POSH 1 READING 1…

1) It really annoys me when teams who play negatively from kick off get rewarded. Reading slowed the game down at every opportunity, rarely strung three passes together and erected an 11-man defence for most of the second-half. Their time-wasting antics weren’t subtle, but they were indulged by an ineffective referee. I was anticipating a ding-dong affair against a team who had scored seven goals in winning their two previous games, but instead Reading seemed reluctant to engage. Reading manager Leam Richardson appeared satisfied his team got a point with just 30% possession, but with quality attacking players like Lewis Wing, Charlie Savage, Kamari Doyle, nippy winger Daniel Kyerewaa and, of course, Jack Marriott the tactics seemed strange.

2 ) Striker Harry Leonard’s seventh minute failure to convert a decent scoring opportunity was as big a moment as the miskick from goalkeeper Alex Bass that helped Reading take the lead midway through the first half. An early Posh goal would have opened the game up and forced Reading to come out and play. Posh could then have exploited the extra space. As it was Posh still created enough chances to win two games and at least they did claim a point after conceding the first goal for just the second time this season.

3) Bass will rightly take the blame for conceding the corner that led to the Reading goal, but the defending of the set-piece was horrible as three visiting players were left unmarked before Kyerewaa tapped home from close range. Set-pieces are so important these days and Reading scored from one the two corners they won. Posh never looked like scoring from the seven corners they won, although a couple of free kicks did cause mayhem in the visiting penalty area. Even the Posh throw-ins are frustrating. Peter Kioso often held on to the ball for a lengthy amount of time because of the lack of movement from teammates around him.

4) A team sat deep exposed the flaw in having a right-footed left-back. Carl Johnston was far from poor, but quick crosses are useful against a team intent on defending their penalty area, but he and Kyrell Lisbie often needed an extra touch back on to their favoured foot before delivering the ball into the penalty area. The Posh goal came from the other flank courtesy of a first-time cross from Kioso.

5) It was a surprise to see Posh field an unchanged side purely because of the amount of matches in such a short period of time, but to be fair to the manager only Jimmy-Jay Morgan and Lisbie looked a little leggy, and the former was slowed down by some rough treatment by Reading defenders. Posh certainly finished the match full of running.

MY POSH TEAM

Posh might be forced into one change for the trip to Rotherham on New Year’s Day as rapidly improving central defender David Okagbue limped out of last night’s match. It might also be a good time to rest some others with half an eye on a tough trip to in-form Lincoln City on Sunday, including the club’s top scorer.

Suggested line-up

Bass

Kioso, Lees, O’Connor, Johnston.

Collins, Woods

Frith, Garbett, Hayes

Lindgren

Subs: Leonard, Morgan, Lisbie, O’Brien-Brady, Dornelly, Nevett, Reyes,