In their eighth game of last season, Rovers beat Reading at the Madejski Stadium to move onto 13 points.

Defeat to the Royals some 13 months on leaves them three short of that mark, and for all the early season optimism, Rovers have now last half of their eight Championship fixtures.

They have used 26 players in their opening eight games, just one fewer than they used in the whole of last season, and they need to find a way of maintaining greater consistency among the players that are available.

Reading, who made it 22 points out of a possible 24 this season, appeared too athletic for a Rovers side who really appeared to miss the calming influence of goalkeeper Thomas Kaminski.

The last thing Rovers would have wanted to do against a side that had conceded just once all season was to give them a headstart.

Well how about a goal start after just nine seconds? Rovers obliged with one of those most bizarre starts to a game Ewood will have ever seen. From the kick-off Michael Olise booted a ball upfield which looked harmless enough and give Aynsley Pears his first touch of the ball.

That would be when he was picking the ball out of his net after just nine seconds as the ball hit the heel of the backtracking Barry Douglas, before being flicked into the path of Yakou Meite who had the simple task of rolling the ball into the back of the net.

Rovers would become the second side to score against the Royals with just three minutes on the watch however, Harvey Elliott picking out Adam Armstrong who swept the ball home with a fine first-time finish, his eighth of the season and 20th goal of 2020.

A quite remarkable start showed no signs of abating, or the lengths that Rovers were going to so to present chances to the visitors. Reading doubled their lead in the 15th minute, a simple throw in from the right caused a parting of the Rovers defence after Joe Rankin-Costello missed his tackle and allowed Michael Olise a clean break on goal. He skipped by a last-ditch Derrick Williams chance to roll the ball out of reach of Pears.

Rankin-Costello, preferred to Nyambe again at right back, was having a tough evening, and it wouldn’t get any better three minutes later. The lively Omar Richards skipped past his challenge, and although his cross was cleared, Josh Laurent picked up the ball, and Reading’s third goal, curling home via the post.

Three shots, three goals, and Rovers were chasing against a side who were all too happy to play without the ball. The game passed too many players by, and while they looked all over the place at the back, they maintained a control of possession and a threat in attack.

They threatened a way back into the game before the break, Rankin-Costello’s cross headed back across the six-yard box by Ben Brereton, and goalwards by Armstrong, with Cabral at full stretch to hold on.

The full backs had plenty of space to work into, against a narrow Reading midfield, but had struggled to make the most of it. That was until Douglas and Brereton linked up well to allow the left back to flash a ball across the six yard box which Armstrong came perilously close to turning home.

If anyone was going to get a goal back for Rovers then it was their No.7, and he duly obliged in the 66th minute. It owed much to the work of Rankin-Costello, whose fine cross was flicked in by the striker whose dart across the near post saw him glance beyond Cabral.

By then Mowbray had turned to his bench, replacing Evans with Gallagher, as surprisingly Reading continued to sit back, despite looking a threat every time they decided to venture over the halfway line.

Goalkeeper Cabral was booked for timewasting with still 15 minutes to play, with opposite number Pears making his first save of the night, stopping Williams putting through his own net after a fine run and cross by Andy Rinomhota.

Cabral was called into seconds later, palming away a Holtby effort, as Rovers made their final changes, sending on John Buckley and Tyrhys Dolan.

But the game was beyond Rovers before they even had chance to have an impact, Lenihan selling Buckley short with his attempted chest down, with one pass putting Joao in the clear. Williams tried to get across, but couldn’t enough to stop a side-foot effort which found the bottom corner.

And so Rovers trudged off with four points from four Ewood fixtures, and a frustratingly inconsistent run of results to start the season.