LAST night there were no excuses for the Clarets and there were no complaints. There were no dismissals, no near misses, no efforts against the post.

In fact they only there were virtually no shots and so no goals and still no points. And as a depressed Stan Ternent reflected on the "woeful" display you could be forgiven for thinking there is no hope.

Burnley were well beaten by an efficient Reading side that had lost three out of four matches this season.

Ternent admitted he would have to sleep on the events before meeting with his chairman today and no nightmare could be worse than what he watched last night.

If he was thinking about packing in management, his players gave him few reasons to change his mind.

Okay, at times Burnley knocked the ball about quite tidily, weaving some nice patterns, but the lack of threat was embarrassing, in fact the manager admitted he was "embarrassed".

In their new yellow and black kit they looked like bees but for the fourth game this season they lacked the capacity to sting their opponents.

The new kit has been launched to mark 120 years proud history for the club but the way they played last night, it might be that long again before they score!

Glen Little had one shot straight at debutant keeper Marcus Hahnemann but he will never have an easier game in the Reading goal.

It was not for lack of trying as the Burnley boss repeatedly shuffled his pack but the fact remains that the side looked to be short on pace and even shorter on confidence and it is hard to see where either commodity can be found.

Ternent played the numbers game as he tried to find a way to the Reading goal. His 4-5-1, with Gareth Taylor again the lone striker, later became 4-4-2 and then 3-4-3 but whichever hand he dealt the result was the same. The players simply lacked the craft and guile to score against a side yet to keep a clean sheet on their return to the first division.

In contrast Reading stuck with 4-4-2 and got their reward with two goals from Jamie Cureton and a third for Martin Butler.

Cureton has already got six goals this season, five more than the whole of the Burnley side.

Ternent had made two changes to the side beaten at home by Sheffield United on Saturday, Lennie Johnrose earning a start in midfield alongside fit again Tony Grant.

Paul Weller, who disappointed on Saturday and Ian Moore, unhappy in a midfield role, dropped out.

Throughout the first half the five musketeers in the middle worked hard to support Taylor but by the break they had not managed to trouble keeper Hahnemann, making his debut after joining from Fulham in the summer.

In truth despite having to face 13 shots before the break, Nik Michopoulos did not have many more problems himself.

Cureton alone had half a dozen efforts but they flew wide or high with the only serious saves coming from efforts by Martin Butler and Nicky Forster.

Forster was a lively threat down the right but it was Butler who had the best chance, producing a weak header from close range with the goal looking to be at his mercy.

Burnley produced some quite nice passing movements but never looked like scoring. One flowing move did end with Alan Moore having a shot blocked but the Irish winger spent more time gifting the ball to the home side than finding his own team mates.

It was clear something had to change and five minutes into the second half Ian Moore replaced Paul Cook. Within a minute they forced their only corner of the game and then both Moores, Taylor and Johnrose all had a sniff of a chance in one mad scramble.

But 60 seconds later John Salako's cross from the right was handled by Lee Briscoe but before the ref could give a penalty Cureton had found the net.

Robbie Blake was the next player to be tried and he was inadvertently involved in the second, three minutes from time.

His free kick crashed against the wall, Reading broke at pace, Cureton put Butler free and as Mark McGregor slipped he comfortably beat Michopoulos.

That was hard on the defender as he and the impressive Ian Cox had once again done well as a centre back pairing in the absence of injured Steve Davis and suspended Arthur Gnohere.

It was game over but to add salt into the raw Burnley wounds Cureton produced a stunning lob to make it 3-0 in stoppage time.

The Burnley team had arrived at the impressive Madejski Stadium 90 minutes before kick off after a five and a half hour coach journey, the lack of an overnight stop the latest example of how the cash crisis is hitting the club.

In terms of time the return trip should have been quicker but, with the manager's words stinging their ears, it probably felt like longer for the players.

Ternent admitted that he has a lot of thinking to do over the next couple of days and the same applies to his players.

They will know the standards this season have been way below those set in the past two campaigns and, in all honesty, it is up to them rather than the manager to turn it around.

The Clarets have made huge advances in the past four years and they cannot afford to slip back to the bad old days.

Now is the time for every player to stand up and be counted, starting against Palace at Turf Moor on Saturday.

Maybe then they will stop embarrassing the manager!

READING 3 (Cureton 56, 90, Butler 87)

BURNLEY 0

Attendance: 12,009

At the Madejski Stadium