BILLY Davies paid tribute to Nottingham Forest's brave fight back against Reading, but also criticised his players for 'switching off' and allowing Reading to snatch the 'vital' third goal.
The Reds suffered their second home defeat of the campaign as the Jordan Obita snatched a winner for the Royals, after the home side had clawed their way back from 2-0 down to make it 2-2.
Nigel Adkins' team had initially stormed into a 2-0 lead through Pavel Pogrebnyak and Kaspers Gorkss, before Simon Cox netted his third goal in three games and substitute Darius Henderson converted after the break.
But Jordan Obita had the final say, as former Forest man Garath McCleary claimed his second assist of the night, securing three points for the visitors and leaving the Reds to contemplate a run of one win in six games.
"It was a great game that could have gone either way. We did not compete well enough in the first 45 minutes. The second half was more like us and the substitutes did great," said Davies. "The third goal was crucial and we lost it because we switched off in the middle of the park. That cost us dearly.
"I thought, in the second half we were better, there was only one side who looked like winning it. We had a couple of very good chances. The second half was more like us, we were more aggressive with the ball and without it. We created a huge amount of chances and restricted them to very few.
"But we shot ourselves in the foot by not getting the third goal, which was crucial, and then by switching off for their goal. It was disappointing in the end.
"We have young players who are having to learn very quickly. In the first half, from our point of view, it was disappointing, in the second we were much improved. All in all, the third goal was vital."
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