JAAP Stam criticised his side's poor finishing after Reading FC were beaten 2-0 at home by Championship leaders Wolves.

Royals created a host of opportunities on the day but failed to find the net as their two-match winning streak came to an end.

John Swift hit the post after just 50 seconds and Mo Barrow's charge-down soon after nearly ended up in John Ruddy's goal.

But Nuno Santo's side were far more clinical, grabbing a 16th minute lead through Ivan Cavaleiro before Matt Doherty added a second a minute before the end.

In between those goals Royals also wasted a string of chances as Barrow went close on three occasions and Wolves skipper Conor Coady hacked a Sone Aluko shot off the line.

Stam argued afterwards: "I think we deserved at least a draw today.

"We started the game very well and could have scored the first goal, but we didn't do it.

"We knew Wolves would come back with the quality in their team, we expected that.

"But we didn't track their man for the first goal and gave them too much time and space to play.

"Wolves dropped in after that and looked to attack on the break, but we kept pushing forward and created opportunities."

Stam also claimed Royals 'dominated' the second period after seeing Barrow denied several times before Coady's desperate clearance off the line to thwart substitute Aluko a few minutes before Doherty netted Wolves' second on the break.

"We totally dominated the second half," argued Stam. "We created opportunity after opportunity but couldn't score, and you always have to be aware of Wolves on the counter-attack.

"But we should have done better, we created a lot of opportunities, especially in the second half. We should have equalised and then you never know what will happen.

"We played very well but the only thing is the result isn't there because the goals we conceded were too easy."

There was a major talking point in the first half when Stam hooked Tiago Ilori after 30 minutes and sent on ex-Wolves midfielder Dave Edwards in his place.

And Royals' boss insisted he had no choice but to make the change.

"I thought Tiago wasn't doing well at the time, that's why I took him off and put Liam Moore on that side of defence, Joey van den Berg in the middle and brought on Dave Edwards," he explained.

"It hasn't been easy for Tiago. He came off against Middlesbrough with that head injury and felt okay in training. But you can see that training is a bit different to playing a high-intensity game.

"Maybe it's harsh for the player, but sometimes as a manager you need to make a decision."

Reading travel to Bolton Wanderers on Tuesday (8pm ko).