Reading FC manager Paul Ince believes their defeat to Sunderland was a ‘wake up call’.
The Royals suffered their first Championship home defeat having won all four of their home matches going into Wednesday night’s match against the Black Cats.
“It looked like a tired performance even after a week’s rest,” said Ince.
“It’s disappointing. You can’t win all your home games, no one can. I said to the lads a couple of days ago we need to be on it, we’re not good enough to not be on it.
“We defended deep, didn’t win second balls, weren’t competitive and aggressive enough.
“All the things that have got us to where we are now weren’t there today and that’s disappointing.”
Reading are 4th in the table after the loss, but Ince is determined to refocus the ambitions of everyone at the club with the aim to remain in the Championship.
Ince continued: “It gets everybody back on the ground.
“People are getting carried away after eight games. The target is to stay in the league.
“People start talking about play-offs and all that crap and I could just sense it. Maybe they got a bit nervous but I don’t know why because it’s only eight or nine games.
“All that talk, I don’t like it. I can hear the whispers with people getting over the top and this has firmly brought us back down to earth.
“This is a club that has to stay in the league and you have to compete and fight to win.
“I’ve told them to get their feet on the ground, focus on staying in the league and compete.
“I’m not going to be too harsh because I’m not a shouter and if you had said to me, four wins out of five at home, you would take that all day long but it’s the manner of the way we got beat.
“That’s a wake up call for everybody.
“Hopefully it’s come at the right time where everybody will understand where we are at.”
