Bolton 3 (Speed 31, Anelka 54, Braaten 90)
Reading 0

The Royals well beaten by Bolton at the Reebok today.

Wanderers' attacking pair of Nicolas Anelka and El-Hadji Diouf were in sparkling form, and inspired Sammy Lee's men to victory.

Diouf's corner allowed Gary Speed to head home in the first half, and Anelka doubled the lead after the Senegalese's throughball.

Anelka turned provider in injury time to give sub Daniel Braaten a third.

Reading never had a foothold in the game, although Ulises De La Cruz did have one good sight of goal just before Anelka made it 2-0.

Leroy Lita came on with 15 minutes to go, and he livened our performance up somewhat, but to no avail.

We gave Premier League debuts to both Scott Golbourne and Emerse Fae, with Nicky Shorey missing the game through injury.

In truth, Wanderers were worthy winners, but at the same our squad was stretched to its very limit after an arduous combination of injuries, suspensions and international commitments.

It was still a disappointing performance though, and we only had patches of good play in what was a difficult afternoon.

Bolton (4-5-1): Jaaskelainen; Hunt, Samuel, Cid, Meite; Speed, McCann, Nolan, Alonso (Braaten 74), Diouf; Anelka
Subs: Al Habsi, O'Brien, Wilhelmsson Davies
Booked: Hunt (foul 70), Meite (foul 76)

Reading (4-4-2): Hahnemann; De La Cruz (Halls 81), Golbourne (Convey 62), Bikey, Ingimarsson (c); Gunnarsson, Harper, Fae (Lita 73), Hunt; Doyle, Long
Subs: Federici, Cisse
Booked: De La Cruz (foul 71)

Ref: M Clattenburg

Attendance: 20,023

readingfc.co.uk man of the match: Andre Bikey

First half
Reading had some defending to do early on, with Ulises De La Cruz doing well to block Gavin McCann's clear run on goal.

Then Nicolas Anelka saw a shot blocked, and El Hadji-Diouf had a penalty shout but nothing was given.

Down the other end Emerse Fae caught a shot well, but it was blocked.

Andre Bikey helped create a good chance for Shane Long, having shown excellent strength to find De La Cruz, who in turn played in the frontman, but his low drive was saved.

Bolton had a great chance on 25 minutes. Anelka's rasper was saved by Hahnemann, but fell to Diouf with the goal gaping. The Senegalese shot for goal, and although Scott Golbourne did really well to get his block in, the Wanderers frontman should have scored.

Six minutes later and the home side were ahead. Fae did well to get back and stop a cross, his only option to concede a corner.

Diouf took it, and Gary Speed got up over Brynjar Gunnarsson to plant home a very good header, giving Marcus Hahnemann no chance.

Bolton were lifted by the goal, and we had some more defending to do before half time. After a decent start, Reading had found themselves on the back foot, with Diouf and Anelka prominent.

Second half
The Royals had a couple of early spells of pressure, first when Doyle couldn't quite find Stephen Hunt after a decent break.

Then De La Cruz had a good chance, but shot into the side netting when well-placed in the area. Sadly, we were soon made to pay for that missed opportunity.

Diouf played in Anelka with a lovely weighted pass, and the Frenchman sprung the offside trap to go one-on-one. The striker ran it close to Hahnemann, and De La Cruz got back to get a touch, but it took it wide and gave Anelka the chance to slide it under the keeper for 2-0.

Bolton became dominant, and Ivar Ingimarsson had to scramble back to head clear another cross from the very lively Diouf.

We were being stretched to the limit at the back, and Bolton looked very threatening.

Leroy Lita came on with a little more than 15 minutes to go, and with his first touch he shot at goal and won a corner. From the resulting set piece it wouldn't quite drop for Bikey and Bolton hacked clear.

With ten minutes to go, Kevin Nolan was only a foot or so away from adding a third with a crisp volley.

In injury time, Bolton put the seal on the win as sub Daniel Braaten turned home Anelka's lovely cross.

Bolton fully deserved their win, and it was a desperately disappointing afternoon for Steve Coppell, although it comes in the context of an arduous week for the players.