READING FC manager Paul Ince has urged fans to ‘stick with us’ as the Royals enter the final 14 matches of the Championship campaign.
Having received criticism for his style of play throughout the season, Ince responded to the claims that his side have been too negative.
“As a manager I’ve been in this position before, I’ve been in the game a long time.
The message has to be clear. The target has to be to stay in the league.
“Working with an embargo, no one can envisage how difficult it is unless you’re sitting in my chair or Mark Bowen’s.
“We have to keep going with 14 games to go, we’ve got to be positive and see where it takes us.
“Maybe at times we should have attacked. We changed the formation against Rotherham in the second-half so we know when we have to change it.
“We went to a 3-5-2 because last season we conceded 87 goals and you can’t do that. Then we had a great start and we were a victim of our own success, because you think ‘should we stick with it?’
“We have to be careful how much we think we can go and attack because we haven’t got the best team in the league. We haven’t spent a dime.”
Despite defending his team’s perceived pragmatic style, Ince reiterated that he respected the opinion of the fans and understands elements of frustration when results have not gone their way.
He continued: “But against Rotherham in the second-half I felt we needed to change something and that’s something we’ve looked at the last few weeks.
“The fans have their opinion and they pay good money to come and watch us play.
“I’d rather be where we are than where Blackpool or Huddersfield are, or other teams.
“I can go and play entertaining football and be near the bottom of the table or we can grind out results and try and stay in this league because of the position of the club at this moment in time.
“Our performances at home have been based on being deep and not having a lot of possession. I’d love to play entertaining football, I played in sides that played entertaining football, but that’s where you look at building.
“If you take Thomas (Ince) out of the side it’s a struggle. You look at creativity and we haven’t got a lot.
“A lot of them are learning. We want players who will be here for the next few years and will have an affinity with the club.
“We could sense there was frustration at the Rotherham game, and rightly so, but it’s important they (the fans) stick with us.
“Fans will have opinions and you have to understand that as a manager whether they are good, bad or indifferent.
“That’s the way football is and you have to have broad shoulders and take that.”
