Jose Gomes says he is more confident of keeping Reading in the Championship following the past month’s transfer dealings.
The window closed on Thursday evening with the Royals having brought in five players on loan and moved on 16, including senior fringe players such as Dave Edwards, David Meyler and Marc McNulty.
Full round-up of all the ins and outs and deals that fell through here
A 1-1 draw at Bolton on Tuesday night, where the hosts snatched a last-gasp equaliser, leaves Reading in the relegation zone, but they are now just one point from safety with 17 games to play, starting against Aston Villa at Madejski Stadium on Saturday (3pm).
“We cannot let the bad things put us in a dip,” said Gomes.
“Life goes on, you turn the page and prepare for the next match against Aston Villa and try to play better and score more goals.
“We don’t have time to cry. We were disappointed on Tuesday, but in football this can happen.
“We didn’t deserve it, but we must be prepared, especially in the last 5-10 minutes in the Championship that football can completely change.”
He added: “I think 45-46 points will be enough (to stay up). I hope we can get more.
“I am more confident than I was a couple of weeks ago, definitely.
“The players have already showed me they are able to play like I want. They have showed me they can score against any team because they created situations to do that.
“We have been making important steps to be stronger like a team, now we have even more solutions so I am more confident.”
Play-off chasing Aston Villa arrive to the Mad Stad not in the best form with just two wins from their past 10 matches.
However, given the Royals themselves have won only one of their previous 14, Gomes is expecting a difficult test.
“If we look at the last five matches from Aston Villa, they didn’t show regular performance,” said the boss.
“They have missed Jack Grealish because of injury, he is a very good player.
“But they are a very good team, they have fast players in attack, all of them can score, their midfielders also have the ability to shoot from outside the box and they are a very dangerous team in their attacking actions.
“We must be prepared for that.
“I think we have everything to see a very good game on Saturday, because the two teams will play to win and for sure it will be a great match.”
Reading are hopeful new signing Nelson Oliveira will be fit to face Villa, despite picking up a knock on his debut against Bolton. The striker, who scored in the draw, suffered a muscle strain but has been improving day-to-day.
Meanwhile, Jon Dadi Bodvarsson should also be available. He missed the trip to Bolton with his partner due to give birth.
However, Anssi Jaakkola (Achilles), Sam Baldock (thigh), Saeid Ezatolahi (hip/quad) and Jordan Obita (knee) are all ruled out.
Omar Richards, Paul McShane and John O’Shea have recovered from their recent injury troubles and are back in full training.
