Michael O’Neill hails players as Stoke start season with win over Reading

Stoke boss Michael O’Neill praised his side’s character after a thrilling 3-2 win against Reading.

The Potters were twice pegged back as goals from Nick Powell and Jacob Brown were cancelled out by John Swift and Liam Moore, but debutant Sam Surridge came off the bench to grab a late winner in an entertaining encounter at the Bet365 Stadium.

It is the first time since 2009 that Stoke have won their opening match of the season and O’Neill hopes the resilience his side showed is a sign of things to come.

“I wasn’t aware of that stat to be honest, so I’m glad you told me that after the game and not before,” said the former Northern Ireland manager.

“It was great to win the game, it was an exciting game.

“We were obviously ahead twice in the game so to be pegged back twice and to win it later in the game
is something we haven’t done enough. It’s probably something the supporters here haven’t seen enough of.

“It’s good that we did that today, we showed a lot of character.

“In terms of their work rate, their effort and their desire to win the game, we can’t ask for anything more.

“There were a lot of aspects we were pleased about. I thought at times we were a bit nervy. I think that’s normal because players haven’t been used to playing in front of fans for so long.

“I thought at times we were a little bit anxious in possession, turned the ball over at times. But we’re trying to do the right things and build the game from the back.”

Reading manager Veljko Paunovic felt his side had done enough to earn a draw.

He said: “We’re a little bit disappointed, definitely. I think we could have started the season with at least a point in this game.

“After we scored the second goal we created good momentum, but we lost that momentum due to stoppages in the game.

“That gave them the possibility to come back and strike again in a play where I think we could have done better as a team.

“We just opened up too much, conceded the space and let them come in our box and in that part of the field I think we could have done better.

“On the other side I think there were positives. The youngsters did well and it was a good test for them in front of a crowd for probably the first time in their careers.

“They did very well and it was a good response to going behind twice, but it was a reflection of our pre-season that we couldn’t play 90 minutes at the intensity that we needed to for this kind of game, especially when you play away.

“There are some things we need to look back on and address.”