McDermott reflects on fifth straight defeat

Reading manager Brian McDermott has said his side need to stick together, as they fell to their fifth consecutive loss yesterday.

The Royals were on the end of a 3-0 thumping from Sunderland at the Stadium of Light, with the Black Cats now rising out of the relegation zone. James McClean opened the scoring within just three minutes, with Steven Fletcher adding to the scoreline on 28 minutes and Sessegnon's injury time goal rubbed salt further into the Reading wounds.

Speaking to the Official Reading FC website, McDermott said: 'It was a tough evening. Giving away an early goal gave them a lift. We said we needed to keep it solid early on but the goal gave the crowd a lift. Then at 2-0 it's a mountain to climb. It was a great finish from Fletcher. When you see him on the teamsheet you know he's a threat.'

'We have to be more solid, and better in offensive areas. But I'm disappointed with the results, I'm used to winning games. The boys are giving me everything though, I can't ask more from them and they had a real go for me. At the moment we've come up short but we have to stick together and drag ourselves out of it.'

When you look at our past five games, excluding Manchester United, you can view them as 'winnable games' considering they are teams around us. Ironically enough, our best performance came against United, which is absolutely ridiculous. On the showing yesterday, Championship football is certainly on the horizon for all the Reading faithful.

Click here to join in the debate on the club forum.