Reading 0 Leeds United 0: Positive steps for Rosler as Leeds dig out point

The Thai, who travelled over from the Far East to be in attendance at the Madejski Stadium, may have been forced to re-evaluate his opinion come the full-time whistle which saw his Royals side bring precious few gifts to the table in a game which wasn’t exactly pleasing on the eye.

It was Leeds, with 48 hours recovery time less than their opponents after their Capital One Cup exertions at Doncaster Rovers on Thursday night, who took more substantives on a Berkshire afternoon which failed to sparkle and summed up the hard grind that is Championship life.

The entourage from Asia who took in the game among a gathering of dignitaries in the home directors’ box had little to feel enthused about with plenty of evidence displayed as just why the Royals have won just two home league games in Berkshire in 2015.

For Leeds, it was a sound, workmanlike performance. Limited panache, admittedly, but given a schedule of four games in 10 days and with another long trip to come to Bristol City on Wednesday, the visitors at least took something tangible home for their sojourns.

It was a performance which United head coach Uwe Rosler drew positives from and you could understand his mindset.

Rosler said: “I take the point as we had 48 hours less recovery time. We came here with a game plan and there was nothing really between the two teams, but we had the better chances.

“Our keeper had to make two saves, only from free-kicks. We have five or six players in our team who are still learning the game, compared to six or seven of their players who have played in the Premiership.

“I take that point as a vital point in terms of the next building block.

“We showed the mentality, that you dig deep and for some players, that wasn’t that easy (before). But for the group of players, they dug deep for the great support we had.”

The team shape and discipline which Rosler and his coaching staff have self-evidently worked on and preached during a rigorous pre-season was there to see, with Leeds at least displaying that they have a firm base to build on.

On the offensive front, Leeds remain a clear work in progress, with Chris Wood given precious little service to feed off.

The application was there in the final third from all of Leeds’s attacking players, but not yet the guile or execution, with the absence of Lewis Cook and the fact that Luke Murphy is still working his way back from injury being dual factors to consider.

It was a day for roundheads not cavaliers, exemplified in the display of Liam Cooper, who embodied the visitors’ defensive resolution, with the likes of Charlie Taylor and Kalvin Phillips also standing tall.

Cooper and his colleagues were strong throughout, aside from an early aberration from Sol Bamba, which left United supporters fearing something much costlier than a yellow card after the United captain’s risky challenge on Hal Robson-Kanu.

Ahead of the game, several flame-throwers briefly bellowed out fire from the touchline in a bid to generate some atmosphere among the home supporters.

It was the prelude to a bizarre pre-match seasonal blessing from a member of Reading’s Thai consortium, who was unceremoniously shouted down by the noisy 4,131-strong Leeds contingent.

Proceedings just ahead of kick-off provided some rare animation in a quiet first-half and it didn’t get too much better on the restart.

The pragmatic side in Rosler saw him elect to freshen up his side with six changes; one or two of which were surprising.

The most notable promotion saw Phillips start in central midfield alongside the fit-again Tom Adeyemi, with Cooper keeping his place at the back ahead of Giuseppe Bellusci.

Diligence was the operative word in a first half that Leeds arguably shaded, without truly setting the pulses racing of the travelling support who packed out the away end.

As away performances go, it was steady if unspectacular, with a Reading side boasting just two home league wins this calendar year, rarely threatening the backline of United, who offered sporadic threats going forward.

Two of the more noteworthy chances arrived to Leeds, both to Stuart Dallas, who saw an early low-shot gathered low by Jonathan Bond.

Dallas went closest moments before the break after a floated cross from Sam Byram saw him arrive at the back post, but his header under pressure flew just over.

Reading’s only threatening moment saw Ollie Norwood’s free-kick saved comfortably by Marco Silvestri after an earlier, scything challenge by Bamba on Robson-Kanu just outside the box.

The trickle of chances continued after the break with Paul McShane and Adeyemi off target with headers, but one effort of genuine note and alarm from the hosts saw Orlando Sa briefly evade the clutches of the United defence by firing a shot into the side-netting with the outside of his foot.

But by and large, a yellow brick wall repelled Reading, although their offerings were tentative to say the least.

The final stages did bring a couple of decent chances at either end, with Wood chesting the ball down from around 25 yards out before seeing a half-volley whistle over.

At the other end, a tired challenge from Adeyemi was penalised, but Jordan Obika’s free-kick from a good position was gathered by Silvestri, with the game ending shortly after in stalemate.