READING FC manager Paul Ince believes his side deserved three points in their draw with Birmingham City as the Royals dropped into the bottom three.
The Royals fell into the Championship bottom three after relegation rivals Huddersfield Town and Cardiff City collected away wins to leapfrog Reading.
Andy Carroll’s goal got them off to the ideal start before Lukas Jutkiewicz headed in the leveller.
“No. Why would it feel like a defeat?” said Ince when questioned whether the result felt like a loss rather than point gained.
“I thought we were the better team and chances just didn’t fall for us.
“It’s a point well earned. We got off to such a good start and looked like we were going to get two or three and then went passive and started to sit back.
“We feel like we’ve got to defend it and start dropping deeper and letting them take control. That’s what happened.
“It’s disappointing because we needed a fast start and that’s what we did but we didn’t move on from there.”
Despite the high pressure nature of being involved in a relegation fight, Ince sent the message to his players to enjoy the challenge ahead of them.
He said: “I said to my players, ‘you can be the heroes, you can do something special to keep this team in the league’.
“You’ve got to keep picking points up. It’s another point away from Wigan and Blackpool.
“We’ve got a bit of a gap on them so it’s a straight fight between the teams above us.
“No matter what happens this team has done ever so well
“Due to these circumstances we need wins. We need to start creating chances and scoring goals.”
