Reading cruised to victory over table toppers Blackburn Rovers, winning 3-0 at the SCL Stadium.

Here is every word from Paul Ince.

Reading Chronicle:

INCE ON WIN

Lets not get carried away. The performance was very, very good. We won't play like that every week. We bounced back from Saturday. I said to the players we need a response, a performance. Performances don't always get you wins but you know you’ve gone out and given your all which we didn’t do in the first 45 against Rotherham. We were on the front foot, the crowd were with us and should have been three or four in front at half-time and that was the only concern. We had two cleared off the line and missed chances and you’re thinking that no two halves are the same. I said to them at half-time, this is us, this is what I expect.

If you perform like that, you will win more than you lose but I always felt we needed a second goal. When we got the third goal it was the first time I’ve been able to go phew. Since I’ve been here we haven’t had games where we have been 2-0 or 3-0 up and you can enjoy the last 10 minutes. For me that was a nice feeling that I haven’t had for a while. All the credit goes to the players, they were amazing. 

We had to be on the front foot. Blackburn are a very good side. I went to their game on Sunday and they played some good stuff. We knew the way they wanted to play and we set up to get on the front foot, set traps and we did that perfectly. We know what the championship is like. It's a grind. You’ve got to work as hard as you can and that’s what I expect from our players. It was a great performance from us and I don’t use the word great lightly. It was both halves.

INCE ON THE DIFFERENCE FROM SATURDAY'S 4-0 LOSS TO ROTHERHAM UNITED

The difference is it’s the Championship. They were top of the table and then they get beat tonight. The Championship is very up and down. Some games you play well, some you don’t. It was great to be at home with the fans right behind us. We’re a front foot team. These players never give in, even against Rotherham in the second-half we had more possession, more crosses. We have to keep performing the way we can. It was a great reaction but it’s gone now and we move on to a very good side in Middlesbrough. You think about conceding four at the weekend so we had to be at the races. We’ve got a young back five and they’re learning on the way. Rotherham was a completely different game in the way they play. 

INCE ON JOE LUMLEY

Without clean sheets you don’t win games. The back five were immense. I spoke to Joe on Saturday evening and said ‘put it to bed’. It's easy for us to say because it didn’t happen to us. I said to him to have a glass of wine because you’ll save us more points than you will cost us, but he still had to come out tonight with that in his head and he was world class and made some world class saves. That shows he has character about him and a tough mentality. I'm pleased for him more than anyone else. 

Reading Chronicle:

INCE ON LUCAS JOAO

Lucas hasn’t trained all week so he wasn’t ever going to play but I spoke to him this afternoon and asked if he could give us 10 minutes. Shane gave us his all again and after 65 minutes he couldn’t give anymore but that’s great because you want to give your players everything. 

The thing about Lucas is he’s a goal scorer. You think about the chances we had in the first half, if Lucas was there, it would’ve been an easy night for me. the most important thing was getting him on the pitch to see how his hamstring is and he felt ok. He’s another one we can have on the bench, a gamechanger. Hopefully we have more coming back in the next two to three weeks but we’re still in the same position with kids on the bench.

The same 11 have to go and play again on Saturday and you can’t keep doing that in the Championship. You need to change. As much as you say can you keep repeating that, it’s tough with the threadbare squad that we have. Gradually Scott Dann, Sam Hutchinson and Lucas will be involved. Lucas is so important to us, if you have someone who is going to score double figures you have always got a good chance of winning games.

INCE ON THE CROWD

The crowd were unbelievable. I thought the crowd at Rotherham were amazing, especially towards our goalkeeper. I’ve heard all the stories and spoken to Joe about them trying to support him even though it was one of those day. You don’t get many fans like that, 4-0 down and still trying to support Joe Lumley, incredible fans. We know as a club- us, players, staff, we know where we are. We know it’s going to be tough, and we will need a siege mentality this season. The fans realise that I’m trying to bring us all together. You sensed from the first minute that they were with us, and if you know the fans are on your side you want to give your all.

INCE ON THE MIDFIELD

I don’t want to single anyone out, I thought everyone from 1-13 were nine out of 10s. Ty was brilliant, a young kid who has never played at this level. They’re all learning. With Jeff, Ty, and Mama we’ve got legs and that’s what you need in the Championship. As a three it worked really well, and we have to continue that. They will get better and better.

INCE ON MR DAI

He was doing a 50-yard sprint down the touchline. The owner knows where we are. This afternoon when I spoke to him at the training ground, he knows the situation. The fact he is here with his entourage. You want to get a good result for him, and it worked. He was happy after the game and it’s nice to make people happy. You talk about managers being under pressure losing two or three games, the most important person is the owner, and he backs you. You saw with Veljko Paunovic, 10/11 on the bounce and he backs you. He rarely comes over but when he does it’s great.

INCE ON SURPRISE RESULT

I’m not surprised by what this team can achieve. We were playing a good side in Blackburn but it’s the league, there’s no Fulham’s in there. Anyone can beat anybody. Sometimes you look at the players and you can sense they’re at it. Nothing surprised me about going and beating Sheffield United, or Bournemouth and run amok in the second half. These players don’t surprise me. We’ve got to keep doing it, don’t get carried away and have standards. They should never drop. We will have downs, we will have ups, we need to have a medium and go from there. It’s a great response and a great reaction, that’s it.