GEORGE Evans insists Reading FC will continue to strive for perfection despite back-to-back Championship defeats against their promotion rivals.

Royals suffered a 3-0 loss on Saturday at leaders Brighton, who host second-placed Newcastle in a top-of-the-table clash tonight.

That came four days after Jaap Stam's Royals crashed 1-0 at third-placed Huddersfield Town in another blow to their promotion hopes.

A run of one victory from the last five Championship fixtures means Reading have dropped down to fifth in the table.

Their chances of clinching a play-off spot have also come under threat with seventh-placed Fulham now seven points behind with a game in hand.

But Evans says that despite recent setbacks, Reading will not lose their focus.

“If you’re not willing to improve, it’s a downfall,” stated the 22-year-old midfielder.

“Everyone is looking to improve, and the gaffer wants us to improve each and every game.

“Even when we win good games, the major aim is to keep improving again.

“It’s a lot of hard work on the training ground, a lot of clips to look at, so we’ll be working hard to get a result.”

An excellent run over the festive period followed by an encouraging start to the year earned Stam the Sky Bet Championship Manager of the Month award for January.

But a run of five points from five games during February has taken the wind out of Reading's sails.

The goals have also dried up for the Royals who have failed to score in three of their last four matches.

But Stam's men will be determined to bounce back this Saturday when they host relegation-threatened Wolves (3pm ko) as they seek revenge for a 2-0 defeat at Molineux back in August.

“We need to go out and work hard again, learn from mistakes, and go and get three points to move us on,” declared Evans.

“From the last time we played Wolves, we’re a completely different team.

“It was the early stage of the season and we didn’t get the result we wanted when went there.

“But this time we’re determined to get the right result when they visit us.”

Stam bemoaned his team's defending after Saturday's 3-0 defeat to Chris Hughton's Seagulls at the Amex.

Royals struggled to cope with Brighton's slick counter-attacking style as goals from Sam Baldock, Jamie Murphy and Anthony Knockaert all but ended Royals' automatic promotion hopes.

And Manchester City signing Evans admitted: “We’re very disappointed, it was three counter-attack goals so we need to learn from those mistakes.

“We created some chances and played some great football at the start. If we had converted our chances, it changes the game.

“We’ll watch the clips of the game, we're a tight-knit group and we'll learn from it. We just need to learn from our mistakes and cut out the counter-attacks.

“Brighton have some fantastic players and they proved that. They only had a few chances, but they converted them.”