The Magpies produced a devastating attacking display to thump local rivals Sunderland at St. James’ Park a week past Monday, only to go down 2-0 to Wolverhampton Wanderers seven days later.
The latter result saw United slip to sixth in the table, a place above the Royals, who put four past the Black Cats themselves in their last outing.
Nevertheless, Dawson was far from disappointed by the youngsters’ overall display in the West Midlands, but acknowledged they will have to rediscover their clinical edge if they are to churn out results as well as performances.
“That’s the frustration I’ve spoken about before, with this age group in particular – getting the consistency. Again, it was a great performance against Sunderland, where everything went in, and there were patches of that on Monday against Wolves. But when the chances came, we didn’t take them,” he told nufc.co.uk.
“We had the review meeting on Thursday and we always use the phrase, ‘You’re never as good as you think you are when you’re winning, and you’re never as bad as you think you are when you’re losing.’ And that proved to be the case. We watched back a few clips, and particularly in the first 25 minutes of the game, I thought we were great. Wolves scored with their only shot on target in the first half, and it kind of dampened our spirits. You come out at the start of the second half and we concede another sloppy goal from our point of view, and it just made life really difficult. The last half hour, we were penned into their half and had some really good opportunities, but we didn’t take them.”
United ran out 4-1 winners against Reading just four months ago, belying their lowly position in the table at the time – and a lengthy run without a victory – to shock a Royals side on the fringes of the play-off places.
Dawson, however, is expecting an altogether more difficult encounter this time out.
“Knowing Scott down at Reading, they’ll be well organised – which, in fairness, they were last year,” he said. “I think the scoreline probably flattered us a little bit. At the time, there was a bit of pressure on the game for them, as they had to win to stay in the position they were and have the better (play-off) fixture.
“I’d expect a tough game. They’ve started well and scored some terrific goals, so out of possession, we’ll have to be compact, slide across the pitch quickly and defend balls in the box. And that’s been a part of the work we’ve done in the couple of days since the Wolves game.”
Admission for Saturday's game is priced at £3 for adults and £1 for concessions. Season ticket holders and Members can attend for free.
