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“We just need to count our guns and prepare for the war.”
That is the poetic message from Reading boss Jose Gomes as he gears up to lead his side into a third straight huge relegation six-pointer this weekend.
The Royals drew 1-1 with Rotherham United at Madejski Stadium before a last-gasp 2-1 win at Ipswich Town last weekend to stay outside of the bottom three on goal difference.
Wigan Athletic are Saturday’s visitors to the Mad Stad, currently two places and three points above Reading, who are seeking back-to-back wins for the first time since December 2017.
But they will be without star man Nelson Oliveira. The striker, on loan from Norwich City, was forced off at Portman Road and is set to miss the next three games with a “significant hamstring injury” while fellow forwards Jon Dadi Bodvarsson (calf) and Sam Baldock (thigh) are already missing.
That leaves Yakou Meite as the senior option, without a goal since November, and starlet Danny Loader, who is yet to net for the first team.
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“We cannot hide that in six games, Nelson has scored three goals and important goals regarding the points (won),” said Gomes.
“For everything that happened with him, the serious injury to his face, he pushed himself to play even when the doctor said it’s better not to play and people like that.
“If you ask me would I like more solutions, of course I would. But we don’t have time to cry.
“We just need to count our guns and prepare for the war.
“Now we are preparing ourselves and making all the small details of the guns that we have better and we are here.
“We are ready for the next challenge. 11 strong and serious battles left with a beautiful target at the end.”
Wigan visit Berkshire on a run of no wins in five, including Tuesday night’s 2-1 defeat at Derby County.
But Gomes is keen to focus on his own side’s performance, targeting two key areas of improvement and admits he is making slight adjustments to the style of play he looked to implement when arriving in December.
“My philosophy means nothing compared to the results that we need,” said the Royals boss.
“The points are very important at this moment – more important than anything, any player or any idea, is to win.
“How can we win? If you see that your players are not comfortable doing one thing and they have no confidence, sometimes it’s better to give different solutions they can easily do to get more confidence again, without losing your philosophy.
“What we did, especially the way we start playing from the goalkeeper, we gave them different solutions. They are more comfortable.”
He added: “We just need two important things.
“This has happened in all the games that we’ve scored. After scoring, maybe under higher pressure from the opponent, the moment that we recover the ball, we must give the first pass to a player from our team.
“It looks like a very simple thing, but sometimes you are defending near your box and when you recover the ball, you just want to put the ball far. But this is not enough.
“We need to pass the ball and after, play and be patient. These two things, the offensive transition in the moment we recover the ball, make a connection with the striker or the winger and hold the ball there and give time to play our game.
“With the ball we must be patient and pass the ball. If we do this, the opponent will put less balls into our box.
“We have the fight moment and we have the football moment. But to achieve the football moment, you must be a good position to fight.
“This squad it wasn’t made just to fight, it was made to play football. We need to achieve the football moment.”
Gomes could also be without in-form goalkeeper Emi Martinez, who is being monitored with a calf injury. Meanwhile, Anssi Jaakkola is closing in on a return but Andy Rinomhota, Jordan Obita and Saeid Ezatolahi remain sidelined.
