Reading 2, Albion 2

The downcast mood in the Albion dressing room after what, on the face of it, was a decent away point is illuminating.

It shows how high the players have raised the bar in terms of their expectations and also how aware they are still of the agony of missing out on promotion last season.

Manager Chris Hughton is "delighted" with eight points from home matches against Nottingham Forest and Rotherham combined with trips to Derby and Reading.

Why wouldn't he be? That is bang on the two points per game equation which traditionally guarantees you going up.

And yet Steve Sidwell spoke of the team performing "very poorly" and conceding goals cheaply against one of his former clubs.

The devil of the heartache suffered by Albion in May was in the detail.

Pinpointing specific games responsible for losing out by two goals to Middlesbrough misses the point, the biggest reason for falling just short.

The one pre-occupying Sidwell as he reflected on an incident-crammed contest at the Madjeski Stadium - away draws.

Only Boro bettered Albion's tally of 15 home wins. Burnley and Hull, the other sides that went up, had more than their five home deadlocks.

Away from the Amex the Seagulls remarkably suffered only two defeats but they also had 12 stalemates, two more than any other team in the division.

Converting just one of them into a win would have made all the difference.

Draws at Derby and Reading hardly represent failure but away wins are valuable currency in the ultra-competitive Championship.

And when Albion turned an early deficit into an instant second half lead, victory looked likely.

Sidwell said: "It's no disrespect to Reading but, with what happened last year with too many draws it's a bit of a disappointment, because we know what can happen come the end of the season.

"A draw on the road is not a bad point. It could be a vital point come the end of the season. It's just disappointing at the moment from past experiences, which I think is a good thing.

"We've got to be careful. If we are drawing away from home you can't be gung-ho at the end, because if you come away with nothing it's even more disappointing.

"Some game management is involved towards the end. We've not played well, we got a point, we'll take that."

Sidwell's presence in the side next to Beram Kayal, the central midfield pairing for the opening two league games, simultaneously provided two more talking points, the absence of Dale Stephens and Hughton's early season rotation.

Stephens, having missed both much of pre-season and the start of the season proper through injury and suspension, was playing catch-up with training rather than sitting on the bench - or heading to persistent admirers Burnley.

Whether Stephens is still an Albion player on September 1 remains open to doubt, considering he is worth several million pounds and is out of contract in ten months.

Adding Sidwell permanently, together with Ollie Norwood and Glenn Murray, to the squad has increased Hughton's capacity to make changes to cope with a congested fixture list irrespective of results.

"It doesn't mean it will always be the case," Hughton said. "We've had midweek games and cup games as well.

"Sometimes I pre-plan something. It was my intention to bring back Beram and Siddy. They played especially well in the Derby game and a home win after that against Nottingham Forest.

"I've also got good scope in the wide areas with Kazenga (LuaLua) on the bench and Jamie Murphy, and we know what Ollie can gives us (in midfield). Apart from defence we've got really good options.

"We want to finish the window making sure we continue that and it's a little reminder that we are four games into a 46-game season. There will be lots of twists and turns, injuries, form, and we will need all these players."

Both teams got changed in the dark, due to a temporary power cut caused by an electrical fire at a nearby retail park.

Maybe that's why Albion played like strangers in the first half. Behind inside two minutes to a wide-angled free-kick by the appropriately named John Swift, they were fortunate to be on terms at the break via a rapid equaliser.

Anthony Knockaert's inswinging corner was headed into his own net by Joey Van Den Berg. The Dutchman claimed Murray pushed him, Sam Baldock claimed the final touch.

Knockaert is on fire. He slotted Albion ahead inside the first minute of the second half, his third goal in three games fashioned by Gaetan Bong and Baldock, then tormented the Reading defence, Jordan Obita in particular.

Hughton, a left-back of some repute of course in his playing days, said: "In the first half when we weren't at our best he was again in there and you can't under-estimate his finish. It wasn't easy, he had bodies in front of him. It was excellent.

"When he's in that type of form I think I'd want my wide player fairly close to me to give me that little bit of support."

Reading's wingers were a threat as well, especially Garath McCleary who cut the ball back for captain and ex-Albion loanee Paul McShane (third right, below) to sweep Reading level with a panache inside the penalty area you would not anticipate of a seasoned centre-half.

The Argus: Van Den Berg (or should that be Berk) was sent-off late-on for a second bookable offence, a tug when Tomer Hemed outsmarted him. Stephens' ex-Charlton colleague Yann Kermorgant, who earlier hit the bar with a header, could have joined the Dutchman for a reckless challenge on an ankle-stricken Liam Rosenior, which left Albion also finishing with ten men having used all three substitutes.

They will play better and lose but for Sidwell and company this one felt almost like a defeat.