Reading 0-0 Barnsley: Royals held by Tykes

Reading stretched their undefeated Championship run to five matches but squandered two vital play-off points in a 0-0 home draw with Barnsley.

After a lacklustre first half, Yann Kermorgant went close for Reading when forcing an athletic sprawling save from Barnsley goalkeeper Adam Davies.

But Barnsley, also chasing a play-off place, finished strongly, with Marley Watkins hitting an upright and Adam Hammill shooting over when well placed.

Reading went into the game unbeaten in four, having won three and drawn one. Jaap Stam had guided them to four wins from six games in January, which earned the Dutchman his first manager of the month award.

Barnsley sat seven points off the play-off places before the match and had won only two of their previous seven fixtures in all competitions.

Reading kept up the early pressure and, after Barnsley had failed to successfully deal with a Liam Kelly corner, Kermorgant shot wildly over the crossbar.

Barnsley replied with a delicately curled free-kick from Hammill but none of his team-mates were able to reach it before it crossed the byline.

Barnsley were unable to make much headway going forward but could have gone in front after a penetrative run by Watkins. However, his cross into the middle carried too much pace and Tom Bradshaw narrowly failed to connect with it.

Two more opportunities came and went for Barnsley before the break. Marc Roberts nodded a Hammill corner narrowly over and full-back Gethin Jones could find only the side-netting after cutting in from the right wing.

Barnsley carried on in the second half where they left off in the first, with Bradshaw hitting the roof of the home net with a speculative 20-yard effort.

Reading responded positively, with Chris Gunter crossing from the right and Kermorgant's first-time attempt forcing a fine save from Davies. Garath McCleary then drove in from the right before unleashing a fierce shot that Davies was relieved to see flash just wide.

Barnsley held strong and went closest to breaking the deadlock just past the hour, when Watkins' six-yard effort struck a post before rebounding to safety.

Davies saved well from Danny Williams as Reading pushed for the winner late on but the game petered out into a tame draw.

Reading boss Jaap Stam:

"We had most of the ball and possession, but you should also look at the opposition and see what they're doing. What was their intention? To get a point. Yes, there you have it. The opponents come here and they play in a certain way.

"Normally, this team [Barnsley] wants to play and wants to go forward playing football. But now they come here and they sit, they make it as small and as tight as they can and just wait for that moment to go out on the break.

"You can see at the end of the game that they were happy with a point. That's the thing, most of the time when we play at home, that we need to deal with."

Barnsley boss Paul Heckingbottom:

"I was pleased with us with the ball and without the ball. The bit that was missing was the end product. We got in some really good positions in the first half and second half, but, apart from hitting the post, we hit the target only once.

"That was the story of the game for us. We did everything right except for that. We approach every game to try to get the win. I know what a good side Reading are, but I honestly believed that we would score.

"Even when they were putting us under pressure, we knew that we would have to defend crosses and we were comfortable doing that and we did it well. I knew that we would be strong right to the end."