Reading boss Paul Ince explained that the club is still a work-in-progress after the arrival on a new Head of Scouting.

Jarred Dublin arrives from Sheffield United, working alongside Mark Bowen and Brian Carey in the recruitment set up.

Demanding a backroom shake-up from the moment he joined in February 2022, Ince is still wanting more when it comes to staff and recruitment.

"I felt it wasn’t a football club. There was no structure to it," he explained. "There was a malaise about the club, and there’s still bits we need to deal with but we are getting better. We spoke about the structure of the club: football director, chief scout, scout. We still haven’t got any scouts; I’ve always maintained that we should have scouts everywhere. They were retired footballers, old people who have lost their wives or husbands, people who just love football. You can say, if you live in the north, go and watch a game- we’ll give you expenses- they’d love doing that. That’s what we used to do in our day. It’s the 21st century and we’ve moved on, but we haven’t got any scouts.

"All we do is watch on a laptop- how can you judge a player on that? You’ve got to have eyes on the ground who look at you five or six times and think is he right for us. It’s things we have to build. Having Mark Bowen here helps that, Brian Carey and Jarred now. We’re starting to build a team.

"The most important thing about football is recruitment. If you don’t get the right people in then you don’t get the right results in, if you don’t get the right results then I get sacked. It’s especially important at a club like Reading because we can’t afford to make too many mistakes. It’s something we’re starting to build toward. The football club has to be run like a football club."