JOHN Swift admitted his teammates faced the wrath of Paul Clement after Reading FC crumbled at the back in the 2-1 defeat against Norwich City on Tuesday.

Substitute Jon Dadi Bodvarsson cancelled out a Teemu Pukki opener for the Canaries midway through the second half at Madejski Stadium.

But Clement’s side switched off at the back almost immediately after Bodvarsson’s goal and the visitors found themselves back in front barely a minute later.

Clement fumed at his players in his post-match press conference, stressing the team lacked a fighting spirit.

And Swift revealed the 46-year-old had some stern words for the squad in the dressing room.

“It’s understandable,” confessed Swift.

“He said what he said at half-time. We came out well and got the goal.

“But we had a lapse in concentration where we should have done better.

“It’s frustrating for the manager and we should expect a telling off.”

Royals find themselves firmly in the SkyBet Championship relegation zone having taken just five points from their opening eight league games.

To add salt to the wound, the defeat against Norwich means they have now lost four home league games on the spin - the worst home start to a campaign in the club's history.

And Swift groaned: “When we got the equaliser we should have gone on to win the game.

“Conceding right after we scored is so tough to take.

“It’s a killer and it impacts everyone on the pitch. We need to knuckle down and make sure we don’t drop off or concede after we score.

“We were still excited. We thought we were going to go on and win the game but we were sloppy and that’s not good enough.

“It’s all our fault.”

Reading have a chance to put things right when they welcome former boss Nigel Adkins and Hull City to Madejski Stadium this afternoon (3pm KO).

And Swift urged his teammates to get back on track, adding: “We need to do what we’re doing but better.

“We’re not getting battered. It’s just the odd goal or lapse in concentration.

“We need to start games firing and get an early goal.

“Everyone’s feeling the pressure. It’s not just us or the manager. Everyone at Reading is feeling it.

“We’re getting better as a team. Confidence was sky-high after the Preston win.

“We’ve shown that we can come back into a game.

“The players and staff who were here with him (Adkins) will want the win a lot.

“Hopefully we can get the three points.”

The Chronicle will report live from Madejski Stadium from 1pm.