It’s a trip to Ashton Gate up next. And, after a two-week international break, the Royals are rallying themselves for an eight-game mission.

“We’ve got to play every game as it comes and we need to aim to pick up points from every one of them,” manager Paul Ince said.

“With all the restrictions in place, we would have settled for safety at the start of the season. And, sitting on 45 points in the table, we feel we’ve nearly done that. But through no fault of our own we will have six points coming off us imminently, so there is still a big job to be done. And we have to be the ones to pick up the pieces. And that is exactly what we’re going to try to do.

“It can be demoralising when you get deducted points. And it's coming. We know it is coming. So we need to lift ourselves. All of us…the club, the staff, the fans, the players, we have to lift ourselves for these final eight games.

“Confidence is massive in football. And when you’ve got a points deduction hanging over you, it's tough. So we’ve got to be positive and pick the players up. And our spirit will do that for us. Without that spirit, we’d have no chance.

“Our spirit is never going to change. It is our spirit which has got us to where we are today. We’ve always had a togetherness.”

“We can’t afford passengers. We have to lift ourselves for the final eight!”