A game of two halves and the Royals ended up on the wrong end of the result on the south coast this afternoon.
"Two very different halves," Pauno agreed. "The first half was a perfect half, exactly how you have to play against this team.
"At half-time we were expecting them to come back at us and we were ready for it.
"We dropped our shields in the second half, which is unacceptable. That is something which has to be fixed immediately.
"We changed things on the right side and that helped. But the third goal was a fantastic strike - you have to give credit to a strike like that.
"We had two opportunities at 3-2 down and we understood that the game had changed and what we had to do. And those two opportunities were enough to flip the game. But we had to give more. We had to shoot more, finish more, score more."
Millwall away on Wednesday awaits the Royals next and gives Pauno's side a timely opportunity to bounce back.
"The times of Reading as a surprise are done. Now Reading has to earn the respect, self-respect and the respect from the other teams by playing like we know we can.
"I don't get disappointed that easily, but I do get in the mood where I want to fight back and fix things.
"Today is a big lesson for us. We have to wake up. And we have to immediately switch our focus towards Millwall on Wednesday.
"This mix of feelings we have now, anger and disappointment, can be helpful if we channel it and use them to bounce back in the next game.
"Let's get back to work and let's fix this."