Club captain Ivar Ingimarsson got another 65 minutes under his belt as the Royals' reserve team were edged out 2-1 away to Exeter City on Tuesday evening.

Ingimarsson was making his second appearance in five days, and this was a further step up for him after playing 45 minutes in a friendly win over Portsmouth last Friday.

James Henry was Reading's scorer, and we came close to an equaliser on a number of occasions but were unable to make the decisive breakthrough late on.

Reserve Team Manager Nigel Gibbs said, "Overall it was a good game against an experienced Exeter side, they had a fair number of first team players in their team.

"We started OK but they edged the first half and went in 2-0 up at the break; the two goals sloppy from our perspective.

"After making a couple of alterations at half time we got a goal back straightaway. There was nice interplay from David Mooney, who slipped James Henry in on goal and he slotted into the corner.

"We had the majority of the play from then on, their 'keeper made some good saves, Mooney and Michail Antonio had chances so I was pleased with the second half and thought a draw would have been fair.

"Ivar did very well, he looked comfortable and this was a valuable 65 minutes for him. The young boys did OK, Ben Hamer was very good in goal both with his distribution and general goalkeeping."

Reading: Hamer; Joyce, J Kelly, Ingimarsson (c) (Mills 66), MacDonald; O Kelly, Taylor, Antonio, Henry; Bryant (Bell-Baggie 66), Mooney
Subs: Locke, Stockinger, Rowe