Alton manager Kevin Adair was frustrated after his side exited the Cherry Red Records Premier Challenge Cup on penalties against Reading City after an entertaining 2-2 draw.

The Brewers created plenty of chances throughout, but were made to pay for a lack of a clinical edge.

“I think we've got to be going in more than one up at half-time,” said Adair.

“There was a huge chance on 45 minutes that probably changes the game.

“We've hit the bar twice and had a one-on-one – there weren't just half chances, there were big chances.

“We looked comfortable and we played some really good football in the first half – it was probably one of our better performances.

“We've not been bad but we've not finished when we've needed to.

“The difference was we had two or three chances we didn't take.

“Josh Millo and Angel Zapata were really effective in the first half and were both involved in the goal.

“We went in 1-0 up and came out and had another two or three chances.

“Alex Merrifield scored a difficult header to put us 2-0 up and we were probably cruising.

“For a side that's lacking confidence and wins, cruising is a difficult position to be in because you don't know how to cruise or how to control a game.

“The two goals we conceded came from us having possession in our defensive third and giving it up too easily.

“We need to get to second balls and track back better in the transition, but you don't have a chance to do that if you lose the ball in your defensive third.

“The two goals were soft from our point of view defensively once we had given the ball away – we've not got tight enough and we've not made enough effort to stop it.”