Wrexham and Reading went head-to-head in a League One meeting on Tuesday evening.
The Red Dragons went into the clash looking to make it four wins on the spin in the league.
Victory, given Wycombe Wanderers have no midweek fixture, would have seen Wrexham climb up to second into the final automatic promotion place for at least a few days.
But former player Sam Smith has been discussing Reading this week and warned that The Royals are in good form right now.
They have managed to move up to eighth in the division and were enjoying a decent spell before making the trip to the Racecourse Ground.
When all was said and done, Wrexham fell to defeat, seeing their automatic promotion hopes take a big hit.
Here is how the Wrexham players rated vs Reading –
Arthur Okonkwo – 5
Had very little to do throughout the 90, went the wrong way for the penalty.
Max Cleworth – 6
His usually excellent link-up play with Barnett wasn’t there for a lot of the game, but he was defensively sound.
Eoghan O’Conell – 4
Dominated the aerial battle for large periods and made a few key tackles to prevent Reading shots before giving away a penalty early in the second half, which Reading scored.
Thomas O’Connor – 5
Another battling showing from the central defender who put his body on the line on numerous occasions. Passing could have been better.
Ryan Barnett – 5
Didn’t see too much of the ball, especially in the first 45, but was still able to whip in a few decent crosses.
Matty James – 5
Was largely kept out of the game by Reading’s midfielders and in turn, was unable to dictate the tempo of the match as he often does from the number six position.
Ollie Rathbone – 6
A lively showing from the midfielder, working hard to quell the threat of Reading’s dangerous midfielders.
James McClean – 5
Played out of position in central midfield and didn’t really look comfortable, often turning around and passing backward to stop any attacks. Slightly better when moved out wide.
Sebastian Revan – 3
Under a lot of pressure early on and gave the ball away. Didn’t offer any real threat going forward – a major drop-off from what we have seen from Revan in recent weeks.
Sam Smith – 5
Slow start against his former team but grew into the match and began to cause problems with some dangerous runs and clever movement.
Jay Rodriguez – 3
Saw little of the ball throughout much of the 90 and failed to test the Reading goalkeeper. How many more chances will he get before being dropped as he continues to offer basically zero goal threat?
Substitutes