Reading manager Mark Bowen has said he feels his side were deserving of the win last night, after they came from behind to draw 1-1 at Nottingham Forest in the Championship.

The Royals headed up north to the City Ground, looking to rectify a 2-0 defeat at Millwall last time out which ended their run of nine games unbeaten in all competitions.

It was a close affair last night. The game could've gone either way but as it looked to be heading to a 0-0 draw, Lewis Grabban popped up with ten-minutes remaining to give the home side the lead.

Reading looked all but beaten, and five-minutes after coming off the bench, Sam Baldock scored the equaliser on the 83rd-minute - his third goal of the season.

Speaking to www.readingfc.co.uk after the game, Bowen spoke highly of his side's performance:

“We thought their goal was offside – but it wasn’t, so it was a good call from the referee there. But almost as soon as we kicked off, we got control of the game again and we were positive in everything we did.

“No heads dropped down, there was a feeling within the team on the pitch that this game wasn’t over yet. That’ll stand us in really good stead."

Reading were cruising up the Championship table over the festive period and looked like they were ready to mount a play-off push any time soon. But Gary Rowett's Millwall brought them back down to Earth, and a response was needed last night.

“No doubt about it, we had a blip, a hiccup at Millwall on Saturday," explained Bowen. "You can take losing, that happens in football, but we didn’t do ourselves justice. I said after that game that we forgot how to play, we let going away to Millwall affect us.

“But we’ve come here tonight against a team that’s been flying high all season, and someone just asked me if we were happy with a point – yes, because we were a goal behind, but overall? No. I thought we edged it in terms of play."

Can you get 15 out of 15 on this Reading quiz? Have a go now!

The draw last night has boosted Forest up to 4th in the table, but it keeps Reading stuck in the bottom-half, sat in 15th - a win would've taken them up to 12th.

Bowen's side can start to look ahead to Championship football next season now, with 13 points separating them form 22nd-place Barnsley, and going the other way, there's only nine between them and Preston in 6th.

The verdict

Forest is always a tough away day, and it follows one of the trickiest in the league for Reading. Bowen was eager to see a response from the side that crumbled late on at The Den and that he did - Reading were excellent last night, and probably were deserved of the win.

Next up for the Royals is the visit of Cardiff City in the FA Cup Fourth Round at the weekend. An extended cup run would win Bowen even more fans over, and they've got a good chance of progressing against a fragile Cardiff side.