Paul Ince reveals Reading FC stroke of luck in Barnsley draw

Reading manager Paul Ince has admitted he was going to take Josh Laurent off before he scored the equaliser against Barnsley yesterday, making that revelation to Berkshire Live.

The Royals were exceptionally poor in the opening 45 minutes at Oakwell, failing to string enough passes together to create anything meaningful and going behind cheaply in the fifth minute when Carlton Morris had the space needed to fire the ball past Orjan Nyland.

It wasn’t until the latter stages of the game when the away side started to look a real threat going forward, finally managing to get themselves on the scoresheet when Michael Morrison’s delicate ball was slotted home from close range from Laurent.

This is the midfielder’s second goal in two games, two goals that could prove to be crucial at the end of the season with his winner against Blackburn Rovers before the international break securing an extra two points for the Berkshire outfit.

It’s no secret that the 26-year-old hasn’t been at his best this season, a real disappointment considering he was in superb fettle last term and looked at home in the Championship.

He had some bright moments before his strike – but Ince has since revealed he was preparing to take the ex-Shrewsbury man off in a bid to find an equaliser.

Making this admission after the match, the ex-England international said: “Laurent was lucky because I was going to take him off.

“I seriously was. It wasn’t one of his best games.

“It’s funny as we lost Andy Rinomhota a few weeks ago so we asked him (Laurent) to play alongside Drinkwater in the holding midfield role but with the way he wants to play, he’s always on the front foot.

“It was tough for him to be in there but when we were 1-0 down, we decided to let him off