Reading FC interim manager Paul Ince says that his team can’t afford to ‘panic’ in the final 11 games of the season.
The Royals face a huge test in the upcoming week against three teams fighting for promotion, which begins with a trip to Nottingham Forest on Saturday.
“We can’t panic, we’ve got 11 games to go,” said Ince.
“We’re going to lose some games but we’re going to win some hopefully and I believe that’ll be enough to keep us up but everyone is fighting for their lives.
“The next three games are tough games against the top seven in the league.
“We can’t keep thinking about what other teams are going to do but it’s going to go to the wire.
“We’ve got to play and enjoy the challenge.
“It’s hard for the players to go from a situation of getting close to the play-offs last season to then be fighting relegation. It’s from one extreme to another.”
The interim boss admitted that things have gone wrong at the club in the past that him and his coaching staff are trying to fix.
He continued: “Other than Omar Richards going to Bayern Munich and Olise to Palace, it’s pretty much the same set of players so something has gone wrong.
“We’re in this situation because of the 30 games in the past.
“Something has gone drastically wrong otherwise I wouldn’t be here, I’d still be out playing golf.
“Since I’ve been here the lads have been brilliant and we’re trying to change their mentality and hopefully we have time to change it.”
The boss also provided an injury update on several players.
“Baba (Rahman) is more than two or three weeks away.
“Alen Halilovic will be out for another week or so, but he has been back training this week.
“It’s nice to have a fuller squad and I think we might have a goalkeeper coming in from outside (free agent).
“Karl Hein is out for the rest of the season and has gone back (to Arsenal).
“Lucas (Joao) has been out for a few days, he’s not been well so we will see how he goes.
“Josh Laurent is back which is important because it’s all about competition and the Championship is so demanding.”
