Jose Gomes has thrown down the challenge of ending the drought of clinching back-to-back wins this weekend to prove they are on the right track to avoid relegation from the Championship.
Not since victories over Barnsley and Sunderland in November-December 2017 have the Royals managed to claim victory in successive matches, a stat Gomes is well aware of.
PODCAST: The Tilehurst Weekend Preview looks ahead to the trip to Derby
Jaap Stam, Paul Clement and caretaker boss Scott Marshall have all tried and failed to oversee such feat in the interim but following Saturday’s 2-0 win over Nottingham Forest, Gomes has the chance when Reading face Derby County at Pride Park tomorrow (3pm).
And the omens are good given the previous occasion the Royals managed to win two on the trot were in these corresponding fixtures last campaign, beating Forest 3-1 at home before winning 4-2 away to the Rams four days later.
If Reading can repeat that trick this weekend, they could climb out the bottom three having closed the gap to two points with their win last Saturday.
“I look at this like a challenge,” said Gomes.
“It’s a challenge that I put in front of the players to see if they have the courage or not to accept this challenge.
“We must prepare daily to be better in the future. It means nothing if you just say you are better and don’t collect the points.
“We are working well. The club are on a good track, but we need to get points.
“It will be a tough, tough long way in front of us and we need to collect points. To collect these points on Saturday, we need the right spirit.”
He added: “We cannot let our spirit go very high, we must keep the balance and understand that this season, Reading never won two games consecutive.
“We must keep our focus in the right way.”
For Gomes, Saturday represents the opportunity to take on a well-respected name in English football in Frank Lampard.
While he may be a rookie as a manager manager, Lampard has guided Derby to sixth in the Championship table, as well as taking the scalps of Premier League opposition in Southampton and Manchester United in cup competition this season.
And Gomes remembers Lampard’s playing days fondly.
“I watched almost all of his matches because we followed the Premier League and he played a lot of matches with (Jose) Mourinho as manager,” said the Portuguese manager.
“All the Portuguese news at that time followed Chelsea in a special way.
“Lampard was a great player in my opinion. Not only for Chelsea, but in the national team he was a very strong midfielder, intelligent, able to defend in the moment that the team needed to defend and when the team was near the opponent’s box, he was there ready to help the team finish.
“He was a top, top midfielder and a really great player.
“The way you see his midfielders playing (at Derby), you can see movements that makes you remember the time that he was playing. The way that the midfielders use the striker’s space and the winger’s space.
“You can see the freedom his midfielders show on the pitch. They have good offensive dynamics.
“They are a dangerous team. We cannot give them space. It will be an interesting and tough match.”
See all the latest team news and an injury blow for Jordan Obita here.
