Reading boss Veljko Paunovic gives his verdict on 1-1 draw at Millwall

Veljko Paunovic was happy with a point at Millwall as it stopped his Reading side’s losing run.

The Royals had been beaten in their last four Championship matches but Lucas Joao’s goal early in the second half cancelled out Jed Wallace’s excellent free-kick.

Asked if he was happy with a draw, Paunovic replied: “Absolutely not. From the perspective of a competitor, I’m not happy with a point. But from the perspective of a manager and having to see the long-term picture, I think moving from that enchanted number 22 and getting a point is positive.

“We also apply a couple of lessons that we learned in the past. First of all, we are not a team that had many ties. In the game against Coventry we had a very similar situation where we tied but because we wanted to win – we always emphasise that and go for it – we lost the game. That didn’t happen today. That was the lesson we applied.

“This point can serve as a catalyst for future wins and an improvement in our form.

“We’re still consolidating our team, recovering players from injury. They then still need to get their form that we got in the past.”

Joao also had a late striker which he zinged across the face of Bart Bialkowski’s goal.

Paunovic said: “That would have been a fantastic boost for the team. But I guess we still didn’t deserve it. Or we still didn’t get there in that level of form that requires that little bit of luck at the end.

“What I’m happy about is our team always plays until the end. Even when we lost a game 3-0 at home we finish the game in the box of our opponent. That shows the mentality, consistency and identity.”