Royle rages at referee in his 1,000th game

Joe Royle's 1,000th game in management ended in a 1-1 draw against the Championship leaders, Reading, on Tuesday night but the Ipswich Town manager was disappointed by refereeing decisions which he felt went against his team.

Ipswich went ahead in the 10th minute through Shefki Kuqi but Dave Kitson pulled the Royals level after 25 minutes. "The Reading equaliser was blatantly offside and we were poorly served by the officials tonight," Royle said.

"We missed good chances but should have had a penalty when Kuqi was pulled down in the second half. We just didn't have the run of the game and I was always worried about conceding a goal on the break."

Ipswich were without their goalkeeper, Kelvin Davis, in the second half. "Kelvin had been struggling for a couple of days with a sore back," Royle said. "He felt it again in the kickaround but we injected him before the start so he was able to get through half a game. We think he will be all right by the weekend. Lewis Price came on but didn't have a great deal to do."

Royle was also frustrated that Jason de Vos was forced to leave the field for seven minutes for a minor cut. "The whole thing about players having to go off is ridiculous. In the old days he would have been strapped up and got on with it," he said. "Even if the Reading lad was offside when he scored, the fact that De Vos was off the field cost us."

Kuqi beat Ivar Ingimarsson to a long ball and rounded Marcus Hahnemann to open the scoring. Reading equalised in the 26th minute through Kitson, put through by Andy Hughes.

Kuqi, Drissa Diallo, and Ian Westlake then missed a succession of chances for Ipswich in the second half.

The Reading manager, Steve Coppell, said: "As the away team we deserved a point but Ipswich made it hard for us. The way they play in a flexible shape in the middle of the park made it difficult for our two midfield players to come to terms with three opponents."

Reading lost their captain, Adie Williams, with a pulled hamstring in the 35th minute and may be out for a fortnight.

Coppell was full of praise for his rival manager Royle, saying: "His achievement is magnificent. I have nothing but admiration for any manager who gets to 1,000 games in this job. I have nothing but respect, and enjoy Joe's company and his outlook in both football and life."

Royle said: "It's nice to reach 1,000 matches in a somewhat precarious profession. It would have been nicer still to have celebrated with a win."