The Royals’ goals, from Long and Kitson in the second half, came after Richard Dunne was substituted following a nasty cut to his right leg earlier in the match, but the Manager did not use this as an excuse and said:
“It’s the same story, it’s three games with no goals, we have conceded four and all four were too easy compared to the City we saw earlier in the season.
“Today’s goals were too easy as well, but I don’t think we are playing badly. We moved it around well in the first half but we didn’t take the few chances we created.
“There was a bit of bad luck, we could have had one or two penalties, but instead we had a man booked so this is a difficult moment. It is up to us to sort it out and start winning games again.
“We lost a bit of our discipline and organisation in the second half, they were able to counterattack but our heads did not drop. We have to cope with this and sort it out.”
With Micah Richards sidelined for several more weeks, City will be hoping that the captain can recover in time for next Sunday’s game against Spurs.
“I will have to talk to the doctors and physios to see what we have available, especially with our defenders. I am not sure on Dunne as yet, he has nine stitches in his leg so that is a big question mark for us. Micah is out, but Nedum maybe will be ready for Spurs next Sunday.
“Michael Ball twisted his knee, so I can understand why he was not at 100% for their second goal. Injuries are the first thing to sort out, but Hamann is also out for two games for sure, so there is a lot to do.”
