ALEX Pearce is determined to ensure that the manner of the defeat to Huddersfield Town is a one-off as Reading FC look to bounce back against Nottingham Forest this Saturday.

Two first-half strikes from Jacob Butterfield and Harry Bunn were enough to condemn Royals to defeat on Tuesday.

But the hosts were the architects of their own downfall with defensive errors duly punished by the managerless Terriers.

There were some positives for Reading as Aaron Kuhl came on at half-time to make his senior debut and displayed a superb range of passing in an impressive performance.

Simon Cox also grabbed his first goal since returning to Madejski Stadium with a fine strike from the edge of the box, but ultimately it was a night of disappointment for the Royals.

Reading got the new season off to an impressive start with an opening day draw at Wigan, followed by victories over Newport County and Ipswich Town.

But defeat to Huddersfield was a setback and with two tough trips to in-form promotion contenders Nottingham Forest and Middlesbrough to come, Royals’ start could be a distant memory by the time they return to Madejski Stadium on September 13.

Pearce, 25, took centre stage on Tuesday, warning his teammates that they cannot afford many repeats of the performance and urged them to put things right at the City Ground on Saturday.

“It’ll be a tough trip but we need to make sure this doesn’t happen again,” he told the Observer. “I said that in the dressing room to the boys, it’s important not to have a repeat of this.

“We need to learn from it, make sure it doesn’t happen again and go again on Saturday. “And we’ll relish the chance to bounce back. Forest will be up for it but so will we.

“We’ll be looking forward to bouncing back from Tuesday night as we’ve got a hungry dressing room full of youngsters who want to make up for it.

“We need to put this right, stick together and reflect on where we went wrong, then focus on getting it right for Saturday.

“It wasn’t like Huddersfield were cutting us open. It was sloppy mistakes that led to their two goals which you can’t afford at this level.” The Royals will be given a stern examination against Stuart Pearce’s side, who have spent heavily in the summer to build a squad capable of promotion.

Britt Assombolonga has adapted to life at the club quickly with three goals in three league outings to ensure Forest sit top of the table.

And they have also added experienced Championship players in Michail Antonio, Chris Burke, Matty Fryatt and David Vaughan to their squad, which boasts an abundance of firepower.

Reading goalkeeper Adam Federici will be the man tasked with stopping £5.5 million Assombolonga, but he is relishing the challenge of coming up against the early league leaders.

“Every team in the league has their big players but Forest have a great squad,” he said. “They’ll be disappointed if they’re not near the top and they’ll be looking for promotion.

“We know it’s going to be a big test for us, but we’ll be positive and play the way we want to play.

“If you want to achieve anything in the Championship then you’ve got to be close to 100 per cent every single game.

“We’ll be recovering ahead of Saturday as there will be some tired legs amongst the boys, but we’re looking forward to the trip up there.” **PICK up a copy of the Observer, out every Friday, for all the latest sports news and action** **FOLLOW the Observer on Twitter at @Observer_sports**