Royals boss Steve Coppell couldn't understand the refereeing inconsistencies that led to Marek Matejovsky's harsh sending off against Blackburn today.

We played out a 0-0 draw with Mark Hughes' team, and Steve began, "It might as well have been two referees out there today. It was a completely different performance from him in the first and second half.

"The referee in the first half was laid back and letting things go. The ref in the second half was a terror.

"Every time you touched anything, it was immediate whistle and yellow card. The imbalance in the way the match was refereed obviously affected the game.

"In the first half, Nelsen criss-crossed Doyler but he gave nothing. Nelsen then stopped the goalkeeper from throwing it out and he booked him.

"By the way he refereed the second half, Nelsen would have gone after 20 minutes. I don't like talking about referees but for a top referee it was inconsistent."

Marek's dismissal confused Coppell further - "He's a real animal in midfield is Marek - blimey! He goes around kicking people to death!" Coppell said sarcastically about the mild-mannered Czech.

"He may have committed three fouls all day but unfortunately, for whatever reason, 'Mr Hyde' referee in the second half decided that they were worthy of a sending off."

The most bemusing decision certainly came from Mr Clattenburg's assistant in the second half, when he failed to raise his flag from a Rovers free kick.

Video replays prove conclusively that Zurab Khizanishvili was yards offside, and without mincing one's words it was a poor decision and hard to comprehend.

Thankfully, Marcus Hahnemann saved and Steve said, "I think there would have been a minor revolt if they'd scored from the free kick.

"I've looked at the replay and I'd say five players are offside. I can't even imagine what was going through his mind."

To compounds Reading's dismay, Nicky Shorey was booked for dissent after instruction from the linesman.

The game itself lacked quality, Coppell admitted. "In the first half the football matched the weather.

"Sometimes massive amounts of effort go into a performance, which doesn't produce edge of the seat football.

"It looked like two heavyweights, or middleweights perhaps, who were feeling each other out. Just checking what each other had.

"In the second half, it got a little bit more fiery - not the doing of the players to some extent.

"We had better chances when we were down to ten men. Bikey and Hunty had two top quality chances - one cleared off the line and one who missed his shot.

"It could have gone our way. Every Reading fan will look at that and think, after playing 15 minutes with ten men, that this afternoon's was a massively important result.

"I do obviously notice the other results - I've just been downstairs having a brew and I've seen the table.

"But I've said all along, that I think we're capable of getting to 40 points, and if we get to 40 points we don't have to worry about anyone else.

"We've got sufficient games to reach that target and I see no reason to change that target.

"I've relied on other teams's results before and it's not a good way of extending a career in football."

A full post-match video interview with Steve is live on Reading World now - click here for a free preview. You can also see Mark Hughes' press conference - free preview here.

Sign up today from less than 10p per day, and you can see match highlights from midnight Sunday.