INCE URGES TEAM TO ‘KEEP BELIEVING’

READING FC interim manager Paul Ince told his players to ‘keep believing’ after they suffered a heavy defeat at Blackpool.

The Royals took the lead through Lucas Joao but were pegged back by Blackpool who took a convincing with four different goalscorers.

The defeat cuts the gap to the relegation zone, where the Royals sit six points outside the dropzone.

“We got the early goal and you think, great,” said Ince.

“We gave a very poor first goal away, it’s been throughout the seasons conceding silly goals and making stupid errors

“We came out not marking and it was 1-1. I said to the lads at halftime that we’re still in the game.

“If we got the second goal,

I think we go on to win the game.

“Up until the last 10 minutes, we opened ourselves up but there were positives to come out of it.

“But it’s about getting results on the board.”

Despite the scoreline, Ince reiterated that there were positives to take from the performance.

He continued: “I said to the lads, ‘keep believing’.

“It was a bad result but not a bad performance.

“At 2-1, we needed to stay in the game.

“I’m not too deflated. We know where we are.

“There are a lot of things we need to address and get better at. I’m not despondent there is still a long way to go.”

Ince provided an injury update on several players including goalkeeper Karl Hein who is expected to miss the remainder of the season.

“We’ve lost our goalkeeper

(Hein) for the rest of the season.

“He fell in his house and took a ligament off the bone on his thumb. It’s 4-6 weeks without surgery but a lot more with surgery.

“Scott Dann has started training, he’s about a week away.

“Josh Laurent is back on the grass but is probably not back at Millwall.

“We hope Tom Holmes is back for Millwall.

“We’ve relied on the same players playing.

“It’s tough and the demands were trying to put on them, it’s a lot of work.”