Paul Ince demands ‘more ruthless’ approach from Reading despite vital victory

Reading interim manager Paul Ince called on his players to be “more ruthless” as they edged past Blackburn 1-0 to ease their Sky Bet Championship relegation fears.

Now five points clear of the drop, Reading wasted numerous first-half chances – though Rovers were also indebted to a series of fine saves from goalkeeper Thomas Kaminski.

Josh Laurent broke the deadlock – securing the valuable three points – with a superb 25-yard drive in the 78th minute.

“Defensively, we were outstanding,” Ince said. “The back four had to defend at times because it all got a little bit nervy.

“In many ways it was probably a perfect performance – apart from the chances we missed in the first half. We should have been 3-0 up at half-time.

“We need to be more ruthless. That makes it a much easier day for the old ticker!

“But then again, listen – it was a clean sheet, which is very important, and we also got that amazing goal from Josh. It was a real wonder goal.

“OK, we were hanging on a bit at the end and we had to really defend.

“We were playing against a really good side, who are going for the play-offs, so to get that result is so important.

“We started a bit slowly but, after about 15 minutes, we grew into the game. We were by far the better side and could have put the game to bed.

“And then you go in at half-time thinking, ‘Are we going to get punished for that in the second half?’

“But our lads have got an incredible spirit about them.

“We’ve had a tough week – going to Nottingham Forest and Bournemouth, two top teams. And then this game.

“We’ve been down to the bare bones with our squad. We’ve had Covid, we’ve had illnesses, we’ve had viruses.

“But the lads have put in a really good shift this week.

“If you’d have said to me we’d get