IF this was a glimpse into the future, then someone has got a lot of work on their hands at Wanderers.

Jimmy Phillips and Peter Reid have lived up to their end of the bargain. Nine of the 11 who started against Reading are contracted next season, seven aged 25 or under.

But to right the wrongs that have accrued over a few seasons at the Macron will need a lot longer than one international break. The pain is not necessarily over for the long-suffering followers of this football club.

Though substantially more organised than the dog’s dinner presented at Bristol City, this was still short of Championship standard.

That Wanderers are heading for relegation is in no doubt at all. Defeat against Brentford tomorrow and Derby County on Saturday would finally confirm what we have all known for quite some time. In some ways it will come as a relief.

Ola John’s rocket in the final minute gave the Royals three points their insipid display barely deserved. Brian McDermott’s side held a man advantage for an hour after Rob Holding was sent off for a professional foul, had missed a penalty, hit the post, had two cleared off the line, but barely broke a sweat in a game played at a canter. A more ruthless side would have taken maximum advantage.

Wanderers can point to the fact Holding’s red card seemed unusually harsh and that Yann Kermorgant escaped heavy punishment for an elbow on Stephen Dobbie that left the Scot needing stitches.

Reading’s gamesmanship was frustrating at times, as was the indecisiveness of referee Geoff Eltringham. But neither was to blame for a 21st defeat of the campaign.

The Whites had scrapped to stay in the game and Derik Osede had been particularly impressive after moving from a holding midfield role to centre-half after Holding’s departure.

Defensively there was evidence that some time on the training pitch with Phillips and Reid is bearing fruit – but one can only imagine that passing and attacking drills have been off the menu.

Yes, Wanderers were a man down from the 30th minute but they have rarely looked more sterile or lacking invention on the ball.

Only Josh Vela emerged with more than 70 per cent of his passes hitting their intended target, a measure of how much panicky punting and hit-and-hope stuff had been played on the day.

Wanderers’ average over the whole season is 71.5 per cent – which is roughly average for the whole division – yet players such as Dean Moxey (30 per cent) and Darren Pratley (45 per cent) were way down on where they should have been.

Niall Maher was drafted in for his debut and after a shaky start looked comfortable enough against the lively Stephen Quinn and Jordan Obita.

Ben Amos also showed up well with a couple of good saves on his return to the team.

Outside the back line the performances were dire. Wanderers lacked numbers in attack, that much is understandable, but their lack of execution was inexcusable.

Wanderers sat deep and were content to try and defend their point. Phillips did little to coax them out of their shell by substituting Kaiyne Woolery for Neil Danns, and later Zach Clough for Emile Heskey. You can understand the interim boss using this 90 minutes as a live training exercise of the defensive shape he has worked on for the last couple of weeks – but convincing people to pay to watch it is another matter altogether.

Holding’s red card seemed harsh. The young defender got the wrong side of Matej Vydra but seemed to make a clean challenge to nick the ball off his foot. Referee Eltringham disagreed and after striding theatrically to the scene Strictly-style, he eventually issued a red card.

Vydra’s poor penalty summed up his day. Amos dealt with it easily enough, pulling off a much better double save from Quinn and Danny Williams in the second half.

Had the Czech striker been in the kind of form he seemed to reserve for meetings with Bolton in his Watford days, the game would have been through before half time.

The wastefulness was contagious and after Kermorgant headed wide from close range, John and Paul McShane had efforts hooked off the line by David Wheater.

Quinn also blasted a low shot against the post in the closing stages as a point looked within Wanderers’ grasp.

Phillips resisted the urge to play another of his academy graduates, Alex Samizadeh, in the final few minutes, choosing instead to put Heskey on for some aerial threat in both penalty areas.

It would have been a scrappy draw but John snatched it away in the 90th minute, striding into the space offered to him by Vela and hitting a 25-yarder past Amos – a keeper no stranger to getting beaten from distance these days.

The ball had barely hit the back of the net before most Wanderers fans turned on their heels to leave the stadium; the disappointment barely registers any more with what has been witnessed this season.

On their own pitch Wanderers had just 25 per cent of possession and mustered just one shot on target. Tomorrow’s opponents Brentford have the highest possession stats of any team in the Championship and so another long day of shadow chasing can perhaps be expected.

Phillips has to start somewhere and laying down a bedrock of defensive shape will be important against forthcoming opponents like Derby and Middlesbrough.

But like a bad movie where you already know the ending – this has become difficult to watch.