Reading boss Paul Ince slammed Sky Sports for moving the traditional Boxing Day fixture in order to cover the match with Swansea City on Tuesday, December 27.
With regular appearances on the channel, more so than most previous years, the Royals have seen less recovery time than many opponents.
Facing another three matches in six days over the festive period, Ince insists his team are being hard-done-by compared to Championship rivals.
Speaking ahead of the visit from Swansea, Ince fumed: "I’ve done my homework on this; nine or 10 teams have not had three games in one week- this is our third time. Birmingham have done it twice, a few have done it once, this is our third time. It baffles me. I don’t understand it. We know it’s the World Cup and it’s a tough season, so why are a lot of other teams not playing three in a week and yet we’ve done it three time. Why us? Why Birmingham?"
Currently in mid-table, the Royals are within range of the play-offs and are sat eight points clear of the relegation zone.
However, with such a tight division, Ince is still aiming to reach 50 points as quickly as possible.
"The league is so concertinaed that with two or three wins in it. Look at our last 10 games, they’re winnable games. We’ve been here before, look at last year where we needed 14 games to stay in the league. Even if we were 16th, we could be five points off the play-offs. We just need to get as many points as we can. I’m hoping 50 is going to be the one but I’m also hoping we can push on for those play-offs."
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