Federici vows to bounce back

The Royals' top-flight second coming ended in a 1-1 draw against Stoke City, with Adam Le Fondre's 90th-minute penalty letting goalkeeper Federici off the hook.

The Australian had earlier gifted the visitor the lead when he embarrassingly allowed Michael Kightly's seemingly harmless shot slip through his arms.

The blunder was completely out of character for Federici, who kept 20 clean sheets in Reading's npower Championship-winning campaign last season.

He was otherwise largely untroubled on Sunday, a state of affairs that is unlikely to continue when the Royals travel to Chelsea on Thursday and Sunderland next weekend.

Federici said: "I've never made that mistake in training, let alone in games.

"There was a massive deflection on it. It kind of just stuck to my shirt and spun off my wet top and I just lost it.

"It's tough to take. I've worked extremely hard to get here and to have that first experience in the Prem.

"I'd say I was a little bit nervous as well, and the boys were, to start with.

"But, early days, there's a long way to go and I'm sure that the next few games will be good ones for myself in particular."

Asked if he was the most relieved man in the stadium after Le Fondre snatched a draw, the 27-year-old added: "I wouldn't say relieved because I'm very hard on myself.

"I'd say I'm a little bit embarrassed.

"I've been dreaming about playing in the Premier League for a long time so I'm taking it pretty hard to be honest."

Worryingly for Federici, Reading did little to suggest it could get back into the game before sending on new signing Garath McCleary, who completely transformed its fortunes and won the penalty.

Federici said: "The boys deserved something out of that.

"It's been a long, long journey for few of them and we've come a long way to get there.

"The boys worked extremely hard to get a point and they deserved to be happy."

Federici cannot wait for to the trip to Stamford Bridge and another match against Fernando Torres, recalling the striker's League Cup hat-trick against him five years ago.

Federici said: "I'll be looking forward to it, as all the other boys will be, and it will be a good test for me."