The Royals produced a stunning third-round replay victory at Anfield as Liverpool's disastrous season went from bad to worse.

Liverpool had led through a first-half effort from Steven Gerrard which was deflected home by Reading defender Ryan Bertrand. The Coca-Cola Championship side equalised with a Gylfi Sigurdsson penalty in injury-time to force the extra half hour, in which substitute Shane Long headed the winner.

Asked if the defeat was deserved, Benitez said to ITV1: "It's difficult to say, both sides had chances.

"The penalty was a crucial decision. I think we can talk about this for one hour, there were too many things I didn't like but I can't change those things now and we have to accept the situation."

Asked if he was blaming Dowd, Benitez repeated: "There are too many things to talk about. I could see a lot of things I didn't like but you cannot change the result so we have to move forward."

Asked specifically about whether the penalty decision was right or wrong, he said: "Again I would say it depends on your point of view, but too many things I didn't like."

Benitez revealed Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard - both withdrawn early with injuries - will undergo scans tomorrow.

Caretaker Reading boss Brian McDermott was understandably delighted but reluctant to consider how the win may affect his long-term job prospects.

"I thought our guys were terrific tonight, it was a really good performance and I thought we were unfortunate to go in 1-0 down," he said.

"You always think you're going to have a chance and I thought we were good value tonight."

McDermott hailed hero Long on ITV, adding: "He's a great lad, I'm so pleased for him tonight.

"They were all terrific tonight but I'm so pleased that Shane got the goal, I'm chuffed for him."

Asked about his new 'bargaining power' in terms of making his role permanent, McDermott insisted he would not be going straight to talk to chairman John Madejski tonight.

"He (Madejski) is just well pleased and he's coming back on the bus with us tonight."

Match-winner Long said after his first goal of the season: "It was a nice time to score, it's been a long time coming and it's a good win for the boys.

"Last time we were unlucky not to win it and I think we deserved it today."

Long insisted there was no doubt about the validity of the spot-kick, when he was brought down by Yossi Benayoun.

"No, definitely not," he told ITV1. "He was unlucky, I came from the blind side and he caught my ankle."