Reading boss Jose Gomes believes that his side will be near the top of the table at the end of the season, despite the Royals suffering their third consecutive defeat on Saturday.

Gomes' side lost 2-1 to Blackburn Rovers at the Madejski Stadium with Adam Armstrong and Bradley Dack both scoring either side of half-time before John Swift pulled one back for the hosts, but Rovers then stood firm in the closing stages.

The result means Reading have now lost five of their eight league matches this season, which leaves them sitting just above the Championship relegation zone in 20th place with just seven points so far.

Speaking to the Reading Chronicle, Gomes admitted his frustration with his side's first-half performance as he claims the team made a number of mistakes which saw Blackburn take a 1-0 lead into the interval.

"At half-time, I was completely angry with them, really upset because we made tactical mistakes that we shouldn't," he said.

"I spoke with them and I explained things. We came out in the second half with different energy and then the worst thing happened. We conceded a second goal but we didn't give up.

"We went on playing and tried to find the Blackburn goal. We had a lot of shots and we were much more dangerous in their box but we only got one goal."

However, the 49-year-old went on to state his belief that one positive result will change the outlook for the Royals and he expects his side to be near the top of the table come May.

He said: "We will be there at the top of the table so we need to give confidence to our players and help them to grow and to show them how to be stronger and to perform better and to give them the confidence they need."

"We need to be patient and help the players can recover from this down moment. I felt that if we won this game we can have a long period of victories. I work with the players and see their spirit and they are a fantastic group.

"We need a good result and everything will change."

The Verdict

Gomes' prediction reflects the fact he clearly has plenty of belief in his Reading side, but this will mean little to supporters until he manages to turn his side's winless run around.

I'm sure the fan base would have been anticipating a lot more success at this stage of the season after a productive summer transfer window, so there may now be questions over whether Gomes is the right man for the job.

His comments reveal him to be insistent that the Royals give him time to turn their run of form around, and perhaps he needs to make some tactical alterations to achieve this as his side failed to break down Blackburn after they pulled it back to 2-1.

Reading now have two difficult league games coming up against Swansea and Fulham, and it seems inescapable that results in these two outings will determine whether or not the pressure will mount on Gomes at the start of October.