Manager looks ahead to the final fixture before the World Cup break
Just one more match in this first segment of the season – our 21st game takes us up to Hull City, before almost a month without senior fixtures due the World Cup break.
Our efforts against a high-quality Watford side went unrewarded in midweek. But Reading boss Paul Ince feels that if his team can channel their best bits across the full 90 this weekend, we give ourselves a chance of being three points better off going into the mid-season interval.
“If we can we perform like we did at times against Watford – and on a longer, sustained level – then it could be a good day for us,” Ince said.
“Hull are a good side and they’ve got a new manager, and they got a good result on Tuesday against Cardiff. All these teams are picking up points now.
“That’s the thing – we need to make sure we’re picking up points.
“It’s still tight, and it’ll be tight when we restart on December 10. But there’s a lot of teams below us. It’s concertinaed in the points and it’ll be a fight.
“So we’ll go to Hull looking to win the game and get three points.”
Ince also hopes that his team will be better equipped on the other side of the break – several senior players are on the road to recovery, and so some more squad depth will be a welcome reprieve.
Sam Hutchinson made a comeback in midweek after missing six matches through injury; so we’ll go up to Hull, aim for a win, and look to come back fitter and stronger in a month’s time.
“The team is breaking up – you feel for them because they’re trying their hearts out all the time,” Ince continued. “You can see that they’re putting it in.
“It was great to have Hutch back – his calf was getting tight after 15 minutes in the second half… I wanted to keep him on but I knew if it went again, we’re back to square one. In fairness he was only due to play 45 – he wanted to keep going.
“But we’ve got a few weeks after Hull to get him up to speed, and we’ll have other players back too and suddenly we look healthier.
“So let’s get this game out of the way – try to get three points for our fans and for the club, and then we’ll all have a bit of a break!”