ASSISTANT boss Andries Ulderink admits Reading are now firmly in a relegation battle.
Saturday’s 1-0 home defeat to Brentford saw the Royals slip to within four points of the Championship drop zone and extend their winless league run to eight matches.
And while attention this weekend turns to the FA Cup with a trip to Sheffield Wednesday on Friday night (7.45pm), the battle at the bottom returns in sharp focus when Reading travel to face rock-bottom Burton Albion on Tuesday.
“It would be very crazy of me if I was not worried about relegation,” admitted Ulderink.
“Of course I am worried.
“We had a meeting a couple of weeks ago and we spoke with the players. Everybody had other ambitions at the start of the season but everybody realises now it’s a relegation battle and it’s not all about playing nice football or possession football.
“That’s easily said but to turn that around is more difficult.”
He added: “I’ve been here one time before where it was quite tough as well.
“It’s about sticking together, talking to each other and keeping communication not only with the players and the staff but with the board as well.
“I think at the moment that’s really good inside the club.
“You have to fight and work really hard to turn this around.”
Tiago Ilori insists Reading can play their way out of trouble
Reading’s style of play is something which has been debated for numerous weeks as results continue to slide.
And Ulderink says the coaching staff have identified some technical points which could
prove key to picking up the wins again.
“There are too many moments that we take too many risks,” he said.
“We have the players with some pace up top. Against Stevenage was a good example where we played possession football but also used the pace with a couple of balls behind.
“It’s not only possession football, we need to find the combination of recognising the moments that we keep possession and play a little bit more direct.
“If Jon Dadi (Bodvarsson) or Yann (Kermorgant) are playing you know you’ve got a physical player up top as well.
“We have to then anticipate a little bit more on the second ball and from there again you can play possession football.
“It has to be a little bit more of a balance between playing a bit more direct and playing possession football.
“That was the key thing we worked on and talked about this week, finding the balance between that.”
Reading will be without injured trio Paul McShane, John Swift and Omar Richards for the trip to Sheffield with all three struggling with hamstring problems.
