Neil Adams is sick of the sight of Reading after the Royals completed a swift Championship league double.

City were looking for a modicum of revenge following a 2-1 Carrow Road reverse in late November but were left with only more frustration after being punished defensively again. Bradley Johnson was adjudged to have shoved Michael Hector to concede a penalty slotted by Hal Robson-Kanu before the unmarked Simon Cox rifled home Glenn Murray's cut-back.

'Fair play to them they have done the job. They came and did it at Carrow Road, and they have again to win both games. From our point of view we have to be better,' said Adams. 'I have not seen the penalty since. It looked a soft one to me. If anything it is a push rather than a pull and the player is facing his own goal when it is given. You see loads of those types of incidents during a game so I was a bit surprised it was. Maybe we were a bit hard done by.

'For the second goal we were guilty of a little bit of ball-watching. The lad has got down the side of us and the other striker is then free at the far post. We were cut open with a couple of passes down the right and it is when the cross comes in we have to deal with that better. After being a goal down, the second made it a big mountain to climb.'

Adams had to make a change to his backline from the Boxing Day win over Millwall with Carlos Cuellar deemed unfit for duty after damaging his calf in the closing stages against the Lions. The City chief confirmed he will take no risks with the Spaniard for this weekend's FA Cup trip to Preston.

'No, he wasn't close. He has a calf strain so he didn't travel,' he said. 'We'll see how he is but anyone with any slight injury we are not going to risk them for the cup. But we will be competitive at Preston.'