Lincoln City secured a 2-1 victory and their promotion to the Championship at the Select Car Leasing Stadium on Money.
Richardson extended congratulations to the opposition on their historic promotion, whilst saying that humility was in order. He said: “Firstly, listen, I think you’ve got to have a lot of humility. So congratulations to Lincoln, we wish them well. Congratulations on the win today and these scenes, I’ve experienced myself before, but from this side of the fence now, these are the scenes that you use as fuel to enable you to go on and do your things going forward.”
Richardson evaluated the match as balanced but pointed to significant moments where individual errors proved costly for the Royals. “I thought the game was very balanced really in the fact that the goals came down to individual moments, errors. I thought, to be honest, the two goals that we conceded, from our point of view, if you want a word, a bit of a pathetic two goals, set play, a duel in the middle of the pitch that we don’t come out with and we’ve got to always improve from that and evolve with that and we’ve got to certainly move forward quickly, got to look at the positives, 12 points to play for. And we’ll hurt for the next 24, 48 hours, absolutely. But we’ve still got to look forward,” said Richardson.
The manager also addressed Reading’s lack of attacking threat throughout the match, despite maintaining a high level of possession. “I think we had 70 per cent possession in both halves, used it with no real edge, with no real impetus, with no real intent.
“The forward players on the pitch have got to take accountability from that. How many of our forward players had shots, crosses, attempts on goal, etc. because that’s the role they play in the team and I think we’ve got to be mindful of that as well.
“We’ve got Jack Marriott, Randell Williams, Kamari Doyle, etc. sat behind us. and listen, we’re a work in progress, we know that but we’ve still got a real good part of the season to play.
“We’ve got 12 points to play for, four really good games and we’ll make sure we put all our efforts into that and you never know, you never know what will happen,” said Richardson.
Kamari Doyle drew specific praise from the Reading manager, though the Brighton and Hove Albion loanee was forced off less than half-an-hour into the fixture.
“He’s one of our shining lights at the minute, isn’t he? I think he’s coming on strength of strength,” said Richardson. The manager also noted complications with the team’s lineup prior to kickoff. “Obviously, we had to pull Derek Williams out just before the kick-off as well, and Kamari Doyle comes off the pitch after 20 minutes. So, a little bit of a fix-and-mend, so to speak, there but like I said, Lincoln are very, very methodical at what they do. They’re very ruthless at what they do and we had to live up to it.
“There’s a ball in your box early on that we’ve got to deal with. For me, it’s a simple fix to not concede that goal. Although we weren’t great in the second half, in my opinion, with control without much intent. We have one bit of class then where we equalise and then we’ve got to see the game through,” said Richardson.
Asked about his selection decisions, Richardson discussed his rationale for playing Paddy Lane ahead of Kadan Young. “I think just the amount of experience Paddy’s got at the club, the amount of games played for the club. Obviously, Kadan Young’s probably an out-and-out wide player, so to speak, but we needed somebody with a bit more experience to go inside the pitch. It’s obviously a different role.
“If it had been out wide, I think Kadan gets the nod but as a ten inside the pitch, I think you’ve got to be careful that you’re not putting people in them places. We aren’t blessed with a lot of changes at the minute, are we? We’re down to our bare bones. We can debate whatever we want. I think in hindsight, all the best ideas are the ones at six o’clock because we didn’t get the results on,” said Richardson.
Reflecting on conceding late goals, he analysed the qualities needed for consistent results. “I think the overall quality of squad and the levels of fitness that have the demands and the robustness of this level.
“We’ve also scored a lot of late goals we scored one today. I think to be better and cleaner and be more consistent within that, the two goals summed up today, why we’re not a nailed on top six team, all the three goals come on Friday.
“I think that tells you why we’re not a nailed on playoff team because of them moments, because of what we are, I’m fully aware of it. That’s my job to make sure that when we are moving forward that we do make good decisions and we make them for the long term and that’s my job,” said Richardson.
With four matches remaining and 12 points left to play for, Richardson emphasized the importance of moving forward and making improvements.