The Tigers are in town this weekend and Royals boss Paul Ince knows results are all important now we are into the final nine!
“Even when we look back at this tough run we have been through, we can say we deserved something from a lot of the games. And I feel aggrieved we’ve not got any points from them,” Ince began.
“But the fact that we have not got the points we should have…now we’ve got to play Hull on Saturday and produce a winning performance.
“It'll be a different kind of game on Saturday against a good Hull side. Sometimes little fine details cost you games and we need that little bit of luck that we haven’t had.”
And we will have to turn this disappointing run around without a lengthening list of injury absentees. In defence on Wednesday night, we were without Andy Yiadom, Scott Dann, Sam Hutchinson and Baba Rahman. In midfield, we missed Tyrese Fornah, Dejan Tetek, Ovie Ejaria and Junior Hoilett. Up front, we played without Andy Carroll and Yakou Meite and even some of the young breakthrough players like Michael Craig and John Clarke are on the physio’s table. Plus, we will now be without Mamadou Loum this weekend as he starts a three-match suspension…
“AC’s got an abdominal strain after he was battered from pillar to post against Millwall. Scoot Dann has a slight tweak in his hamstring, Yids has got some big bruising on his foot that hasn’t gone down, Yaks has done a bit on the grass but won’t be ready for the weekend.
“And at Blackburn, Lucas was due to give me 65 minutes on Wednesday night and he managed to give me a little bit more. Shane puts so much graft in that he starts cramping up. Amadou got a dead leg earlier in the week and that felt sore for him…Ss the injuries are stacking up again, because we keep asking the same players to go to the well.
“We’ve got kids on the bench again, like we did at the start of the season. So we’re back to where we were. So we’ve just got to keep playing, keep fighting and aim to get a result this weekend ahead of a break when we can hopefully get some injuries back. But it is tough.”
One bright spark and a positive to take into the weekend from our defeat at Ewood Park was the performance of Cesare Casadei.
“It was great to see him get his first goal – a lovely finish. He should have had two or three to be fair,” Ince said.
“There was one that goes straight at the keeper, either side of him and he scores. There was the right-foot rocket which the keeper makes a great save from – again, either side of him and he scores. And then obviously he got his goal in the end.
“I’m pleased for him, a young kid coming into the game from another country. I was great for him to get off the mark, a big night for him.
“It’s not an easy switch to make with the culture change, the style of football, the intensity and tempo of the game over here. Just because these players come from a big club, it’s important you don’t just throw them in – you have to let them feel their way into training bit by bit. And he’s settled in with the lads, he speaks good English and he’s a talented, talented kid.
“He has needed a few weeks to settle into the three games in a week routine, but it will be a great learning curve for him. And when you see him play like he did in midweek, he’s got the potential to be a very good midfield player.”