Ipswich boss Paul Jewell admitted his side were "soundly beaten" 3-1 at Portman Road by Reading. "We were so flat it was unbelievable and looked leggy and tired. Reading were better than us in all areas and we were soundly beaten.

"Losing Jimmy Bullard (to a hamstring injury) was a huge loss but there just wasn't any spark in the team tonight.

"We were second to every ball and didn't put them under any pressure, whereas they always looked a threat.

"We've got to do better but I'm not going to slate the players because in the main they've been terrific since I've been here. Sometimes you get performances like that and you don't know where they come from.

"It was so quiet out there. It was like a reserve game. There was no zip or zest from anyone and I'm at a loss to explain it.

"There was no tempo or rhythm to our play and we didn't give our supporters anything to shout about.

"We didn't get close to them, we didn't make any tackles and the things we've done in the large majority of my time here we just didn't do.

"It was a terrific goal from Connor (Wickham) but we need someone to do that when it's 0-0."

Reading boss Brian McDermott was delighted with another fine display on the road.

McDermott said: "That's as good an away performance as you'll see in the Championship. We went to Burnley and played similarly to that and won 4-0.

"We've had some really decent away performances but drawn too many games. We've been working on that and to start turning the draws into wins is good news.

"We played a different way and everyone carried out their jobs really well. We really wanted to come here and put on a good performance.

"We had opportunities but just couldn't get that second goal until the end. The shape of the team was good and everyone did their jobs.

"This is a good stage of the season to find some consistency and that's what we're trying to do. There's still a load of points to play for and many things can happen."