INCE: ‘WE THOROUGHLY DESERVED THREE POINTS’

READING FC manager Paul Ince believed his side took three ‘thoroughly deserved’ points against Stoke City in their home victory.

The Royals went ahead through Michael Morrison, only to be pegged back on the stroke of halftime by Romaine Sawyers’ strike.

Reading regained the lead and took the three points thanks to Lucas Joao’s 63rd minute header.

“I’m drained, I’m getting too old for this,” said Ince.

“We thoroughly deserved to win, we came out of the traps really quickly.

“The fact we started so well we looked confident. It was nice for us to get a goal first at last and build on that.

“We started dropping off and allowed them to get back into it and before half time just before half time the keeper throws one in, he was disappointed with that and he made himself accountable, which I like.”

Having gone in level at half-time, Ince was pleased with his team’s response to regroup and regain the lead.

He continued: “We had to go again, the spirit they’ve got at the moment, they went out again in the second half and you’ve seen what they’re capable of.

“We got the goal, Lucas (Joao) is claiming it but I don’t think he’s going to get it.

“We should have made it 3-1, and they go back and should have made it 2-2.

“You usually get punished for them. We had that bit of luck and we deserved that.

“We were nervous at times but you can understand that. We were under that little bit of pressure.

“It was an all round very good performance despite being nervous at times.

“Physically, emotionally, mentally it’s tiring. They dug in and stuck together and thoroughly deserved the three points

“It’s an eight point buffer but we can’t get complacent and think it’s done because things can change quickly.”

Ince heaped praise on Andy Yiadom and Danny Drinkwater after their impressive displays in the

Royals’ home win over Stoke City.

Fresh on the back of helping Ghana qualify for the 2022 World Cup, Yiadom has returned in excellent form for his club, and put in a tremendous performance last night which helped Reading over the line to claim three big points against Stoke to take them eight points clear of the relegation zone.

“It’s hard to pick out individual but Yids (Andy Yiadom) was unbelievable,” said Ince. He was amazing and you can see why he’s going to the World Cup.

“He was unbelievable from the first minute to the last minute when we needed him to make tackles and get us up the park.

“It was a big, big, big display. he was man of the match by miles.”