Reading 1-3 Sheffield Wednesday: Owls earn opening-day win for caretaker boss Lee Bullen
- Published
Sam Hutchinson scored for the first time in almost two years to put Wednesday ahead for the second time at Reading
Lee Bullen says he is "ready" for the Sheffield Wednesday managerial role on a full-time basis after beginning his third reign as caretaker boss with an impressive victory at Reading.
Goals from Owls debutant Kadeem Harris, Sam Hutchinson and Lucas Joao sealed the points for Wednesday, who are managerless after Steve Bruce resigned to take over at Newcastle United last month.
Victory continued Bullen's 100% record in opening games - the 48-year-old also won his first match in two previous caretaker stints after the departures of Carlos Carvalhal and Jos Luhukay.
"If the chairman goes with me, then I feel I'm ready for it," said the Scot, who made 148 appearances during a four-year spell with the Owls as a player.
"I am very privileged to be doing it at the moment. The chairman will decide. But it would be a great opportunity for anyone who was offered this job."
Harris, a summer arrival from Cardiff, put Wednesday ahead in the first half, receiving Liam Palmer's through ball before firing in a debut goal from a difficult angle.
Yakou Meite levelled with a powerful header from Josh Barrett's cross, but Wednesday quickly restored their lead when Barry Bannan's corner found Sam Hutchinson unmarked at the back post to head home.
Owls keeper Keiren Westwood was shown a red card for bringing down Mo Barrow when clean through but Wednesday sealed the win with Joao's powerful long-range strike deep in stoppage time.
Portuguese forward Joao has been linked with a move to Saturday's hosts and Bullen said he might have to let a striker depart before the transfer window closes on Thursday.
"Good players always attract interest. It's down to the chairman to make any sort of decision on that and ultimately it comes down to what offers are on the table," Bullen told BBC Radio Sheffield.
He added: "We had four strikers on the bench today to change it. Sam Winnall didn't even make the squad. That can be tough to keep everyone onside.
"Possibly we might have to let one or two go. It maybe isn't ideal to have six top strikers but it's a great problem to have."
Reading must fix mistakes - Gomes
Victory was a boost for Wednesday after a build-up to the new campaign that had been far from ideal.
Bruce's departure to Newcastle two and a half weeks before the season came just a few days after the club's accounts showed that they had sold Hillsborough to owner Dejphon Chansiri to help avoid a breach of spending rules.
And they almost fell behind early on when Andy Yiadom's shot was cleared off the line by Tom Lees, leaving the hosts launching fruitless calls for a penalty, claiming handball against the Wednesday skipper.
But despite their troubles, the visitors created the greater danger throughout with Bannan curling a shot narrowly wide from the edge of the box and Steven Fletcher missing a hat-trick of chances to make their margin of victory even more comfortable.
Reading manager Jose Gomes said: "We are in the beginning of the season and we have a long way in front of us. But we need to fix as soon as possible the mistakes that we showed.
"When we conceded the first goal, we didn't deserve it because of the way that we had played.
"If you watch the game properly, you cannot say that they were better than us. But they used very well their chances that they created or that we gave to them."