Noel Hunt disappointed Reading only managed one point against Mansfield

Reading manager Noel Hunt admitted that it “just didn’t click” for his side as they were held to a scrappy 1-1 draw with Mansfield in League One.

Mansfield appeared to be heading for a slender victory after Tyler Roberts’ early strike, but in-form Jack Marriott secured a point for the hosts with his fifth goal of the season in the 71st minute.

“I’m a bit disappointed that we didn’t take all three points,” Hunt said.

“But there were lots of little things where we let Mansfield off the hook.

“There are moments in the game when you have to switch on. When we’ve got the pressure on, we have to keep the pressure on.

“We’ve got to all stay on the same page and keep to the same structure. We mustn’t get frustrated with things.

“We’ve definitely left a few points out on the pitch.

“Quite frankly, it was one of those days when it just doesn’t quite click.

“But I still felt that we had enough in and around their box to create chances.

“We had a couple of good chances in the first half and a couple in the second.

“Performance-wise and how we moved the ball, we could have been better at times.”

On Paddy Lane’s “open goal” miss towards the end of the first half, Hunt said: “Listen, we’ve all been there. I’ve been there myself, I’ve missed plenty of them.

“I just said to Paddy: ‘You’re closer to scoring now, get your mind set on that. It’s coming, it’s going to fall for you again.’

“He knows where the goal is and I’m not worried about him. He’ll score more goals than he misses.”

Mansfield manager Nigel Clough also felt that his side should have claimed the three points.

“Yes, that’s two points dropped,” Clough said. “We should have got all three today.

“We should have either kept a clean sheet or we should have gone on and scored a second goal in the second half, especially with the chances and the situations that we had.

“I didn’t think that we played that well in the first half but, in the second, I just wanted us to be better.

“For the first 10 or 15 minutes after half time, I thought that we certainly were.

“With those situations and chances, you have to finish them. And I think that would have been enough.

“It’s been a pretty intense first couple of months of the season. A few of the lads were feeling it a bit today.

“Yes, 1-0 is always a dangerous scoreline, but I thought that we were pretty comfortable up until the point that they scored.

“It was a great chance to win today.”