Tom Ince reflects on the season so far…
The final whistle on Friday night signalled the halfway mark in our season, and although we were disappointed to leave St Andrew’s without anything to show for our efforts, the result left the Royals occupying a top half position.
Paul Ince’s side have accrued 32 points from our 23 matches so far this season, registering ten wins, however midfielder Tom Ince believes there is still more to come from the side over the course of our remaining 23 matches.
“I think we are where we are, the league table doesn’t lie,” said Ince.
“There have been some games where we could have probably got more out of the games and then there have been times when we have been off the boil, and we have been punished for it.
“Then there have been times when we have been at it, got the points and played really well so it is about getting that balance.”
Ince spoke of some of the challenges the squad have faced over the first half of the campaign, particularly on the injury front, and is looking forward to seeing the return to fitness of some notable absentees whose experience will prove invaluable over the next few months.
“We have been working with a small group for most of the season, so we need to get everybody back fit.
“We are already looking a lot healthier with Naby playing in the last two matches with Dannsy and Hutch hopefully back in the next couple of weeks.
“These are important players for us because of their experience as there are a lot of players in this team that haven’t played consistently at this level before.
“So we’ll assess and look back on the first half of the season, and to go from one of the relegation favourites to where we are now shows there is a real spirit in this dressing room and we thrive off our backs being against the wall.
“We need to cut out the mistakes, but we know we have enough ability in this squad to stay clear of where we want to stay clear off and we just have to get to 50 points and go from there.”
The Royals’ next opportunity to take a step nearer to that goal will be when we welcome Swansea City on Tuesday 27 December to the Select Car Leasing Stadium, where Ince wants to see more evidence of the side’s ‘bounce back ability’ to ensure the Royals have a productive festive period.
“Over Christmas we have a lot of big games coming up against some tough teams so we will analyse where we went wrong against Birmingham, to make sure we are ready.
“But now we look to Swansea, we owe them one after last time, and all we can do is put it right in the next game.
“We are a side that want to be on the front foot and aggressive and get the ball in the forward areas and go from there, so we have to have the right mentality.
“We have shown good bounce back ability this year and we have to do it again, these are big games, but we will all look forward to them.”