Manager on ‘toughest game yet’ at Burnley and connecting with our fans in the town…
There are few tougher games in a league season than going away to the leaders. And Burnley, our hosts on Saturday and recently relegated from the Premier League, are likely to offer one of the most difficult encounters of the campaign yet.
Manager Paul Ince will be pitting his wits against Vincent Kompany this weekend – but knows that if his team perform, they could come away with something from Turf Moor.
“I make sure we train the same way, win or lose,” Ince said. “It’s nice to get a win against Bristol City, of course. But we’re still doing the same things. The spirit is still the same throughout.
“And now we go to Burnley – who are a good side. They play possession-based football and we know if it’ll be tough. They’ve only lost one all season.
“But we’ve been here before – this team went to Bournemouth and Fulham last season when they weren’t expected to get something.
“I’ve looked at the Championship this season, and it seems to be all about who does best on the day – that’s why results are so weird!
“But they are a very good side and it’s our toughest game yet. But we’ll go there full of confidence, and we’ll give it a go like we always do.”
“I’ve come across Vincent Kompany when I was Notts County manager and he was at Man City; he came into the office afterwards and we had a good chat. He’s a really nice bloke and I’ve got a lot of time for him, and it’s great to see him doing well.
“His style of football is really, really good. He plays a bit like Pep – we know they’ll have a lot of possession. They played against Norwich on Tuesday and Norwich only had about 30% possession.
“So we know what type of game it’ll be. And we’ll need to stay patient. And hopefully we can make it a good day.”
The Royals squad headed down to The Oracle en masse in midweek as the players met supporters in the middle of town.
And the Royals boss was delighted to help connect the team to the supporters…
“When I came in, I felt that there between the players, the club and the fans, there was a massive gap,” the boss continued. “One of the most important things this year was to bridge that gap and have a connection.
“It’s great that they came out – they’re the next generation!
“You see all the kids there… we want to get them to the stadium, and get the stadium full in the future.
“It was a great turnout and the lads were brilliant too – they had smiles on their faces for two and a half hours! They were fantastic and it was a great day for everyone.”