With neither side having anything to play for, the Tangerines clinched victory in a drab affair through a 75th-minute goal from CJ Hamilton.

It meant that the Royals, once in play-off contention, won only two of their closing 11 games and were winless in six.

“If you take the game in isolation, it’s probably an even game. It took a ‘worldie’ goal to decide it,” Richardson said.

“We got in some moments where we’ve got to be better but it’s disappointing that we didn’t finish with a win and a really good feel.

“But we’re making really good strides, all the underlying stats are there from where we were and where we are now.

“When I first came in (in October), it was always going to be a big project. It was not going to happen overnight.

“We’ve got a big transfer window coming, we’ve got a big summer coming.

“It’s my job and I’m full of optimism for it, I know what this league takes and how to move forward. That’s what we’ll be concentrating on.”

Reading sat in sixth place early last month but finished in 12th.

“It’s since Easter that we’ve come up short,” Richardson added. “There’s many things (why) but I don’t think anyone wants to hear the intricacies of it at the moment.

“We’re going to address things internally and externally because this club needs it and demands it.”

Blackpool had banished relegation fears long ago and ended with a superb run of six wins in seven outings.

Head coach Ian Evatt said: “I’m delighted because we’ve just said to the players that it’s really a marker of how far we’ve come on this journey.

“The hard part was done last week when we maintained our position in League One.

“We’ve been on a fabulous run of form and today it was about professional pride.

“We wanted to finish the season with a good feeling. We’ve worked so hard to gain this momentum that we’ve got as a football club at this moment.

“We want to hang onto that.

“The players executed the game plan perfectly. We pressed a little bit deeper, set traps and knew how we could steal the ball.

“I think that we deserved to win and, yes, it was some goal (from Hamilton).

“We had other good chances and their goalkeeper (Joel Pereira) has made several good saves.

“But I’m so proud of CJ. He’s a fantastic lad, he’s so infectious, a brilliant team-mate and tactically aware and astute. He deserves that goal.”