Paul Ince makes Reading FC transfer admission as the wait for further summer signings continues

Reading FC manager Paul Ince has admitted fans must be patient as the search for further signings continues ahead of the new Championship season.

Royals' boss has brought in just three players so far this summer - Joe Lumley, Dean Bouzanis and Tom Ince - as he aims to bolster the squad for 2022/23. Four players have also re-committed their futures to the club having been out of contract at the end of June, but there remains an urgent need for further recruits to both freshen up the squad and add quality to it.

Reading continue to operate under a transfer embargo, which means all deals have to go through the EFL before completion, causing delays to incoming transfers.

As things stand there are only three senior midfielders for Ince to call upon, while the manager has no recognised left-back either. Supporters are getting rather impatient about the lack of signings with the new season just over three weeks' away and Ince says he is equally frustrated at the lack of progress, although it is not through a lack of trying.

"This [recruitment] is probably the hardest bit - it's different if you haven't got an embargo and can look at targets," he told BBC Radio Berkshire. "If you don't have an embargo, you can look at targets straight away after the end of the season, [and see] who is going to be available and how much are they going to cost. This year, we haven't had that luxury so it has been really, really difficult to bring in the right players.

"It's got to be a patient game because we have to wait and see what players are available, what players are available for loan from Premier League clubs - a lot of managers want to see them first before they decide who they're going to let out on loan - so it's not helpful at all