David Button admitted he was surprised by how little he was tested by Reading after Fulham were reduced to ten men early in their Championship encounter on Saturday.
The Fulham goalkeeper was expecting a busy afternoon in Berkshire even before the early sending-off of Tomas Kalas but paid tribute to the tenacity of his defenders for keeping the Royals at bay and told GetWestLondon that he felt Jaap Stam’s side were going to give him more to do:
We deserved the point. It was a tough afternoon, and I think just for the attitude of the players and the amount of effort we put in, we deserved a point. Reading may say differently but we showed great character and it ended up being a good result.
Button was diplomatic about Simon Hooper’s decision to dismiss Kalas, saying:
The speed of the game to make a decision, it’s going to be close either way. But it’s one of those things we had to deal with and the boys knuckled down. Naturally, I knew I was going to be in for a tough afternoon. Reading are a good team and with ten men it was always going to be difficult.
But in the end I was surprised with how little I had to do. I thought we defended really well and a good team performance. I was happy with my saves and to be there when called upon, but it was down to the lads for keeping their chances to a minimum.
The former Brentford goalkeeper also insisted that Lucas Piazon’s game-changing contribution from the bench highlighted the strength of the squad that Slavisa Jokanovic has to pick from.
And as goals come, I am sure it was sweet for Lucas (Piazon). It shows the quality of the players we have on the bench with players like him, it’s great for the team.
