Tom Ince makes confident Reading FC claim despite Burnley loss | OneFootball

Reading midfielder Tom Ince believes his side will escape relegation if they can play how they did against Burnley on Saturday, speaking to the Royals’ media team.

The 30-year-old scored the Berkshire outfit’s opener against the Clarets at the weekend, latching on to a flick and guiding the ball past Arijanet Muric to give his side the lead against the run of play.

Throughout much of the game, the hosts at Turf Moor failed to find the final ball and be clinical enough with their chances, allowing the Royals to break the deadlock and give themselves a great chance of taking a point or three home from Lancashire.

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And they looked set to get something from the game despite Manuel Benson’s equaliser – but Anass Zaroury’s winner in the fourth minute of stoppage time consigned the away side to a heartbreaking loss – just a couple of minutes after Ince was taken down in the box.

A penalty wasn’t given though, leaving the visitors feeling aggrieved as their efforts proved to be in vain in the end.

However, the 30-year-old does believe his side will be successful in their quest to remain afloat in the division if they can put in similar shifts against other sides.

He said: “I thought the lads dug in ever so well, considering this is meant to be the best team in the league.

“You are never going to come here and have the majority of the possession, but we looked a threat on the counter, and I thought second half we were brilliant and put them under pressure.

“We don’t play against this type of opposition every week so if we play like we did today most weeks then we will be ok.”

The Verdict:

The Royals did do well in Lancashire, dug in well and came forward a bit more than they were able to against Swansea City, so that’s a promising sign for Paul Ince and his players.

However, they also have to acknowledge the fact that they did ride their luck at times and when picked apart at points, though that comes as no major surprise considering the number of central defenders they have out injured.

They look set to have a healthier squad after the World Cup break with Naby Sarr, Liam Moore, Tom McIntyre and Sam Hutchinson to return, with the latter two potentially returning before the interval arrives.

They do have a decent number of forward options available though and they need to make full use of them against Luton Town tomorrow night, with Shane Long or Andy Carroll potentially needing to come in for Ovie Ejaria who wasn’t able to have a huge impact on the game at the weekend.

If they can keep most of their players fit, they have a real chance of remaining afloat in the division, but they need to maximise their points from tight games and they have been able to do that in some matches this term.