ROYALS boss Brendan Rodgers has vowed to stick to his footballing principles and has claimed most games in the Championship are more like rugby matches.

Rodgers is determined to instill his own ideas into his newly assembled squad despite warnings that pretty football gets you nowhere in a division of rough and tumble.

And while Rodgers accepts it will take time for players to adapt to his methods, he strongly believes there will be enormous benefits down the line.

He explained: "At this level I've seen more games like rugby than football. The Premier League is a different kind of football.

"Managers and coaches come into the Championship thinking you can't play football in this league. But of course you can.

"If you are brave enough to play you can get results. The easiest thing to do is kick the ball up the field and I've been involved in games like that.

"It gets cleared upfield, goes out for a throw-in in the final third and everyone pushes up towards the corners. That's not football, it's rugby.

"If people want to watch that - fine. But I don't want to watch that and I don't want our supporters to see that.

"That's why I will stick by my principles. We will get there in the end when we have got players with the correct DNA."

And he added: "People say there's a certain way to win in the Championship, which is fine. But it doesn't matter how you win games.

"All the stats show that teams at the top of the table are the best teams with the ball. They're getting less shots on goal but more on target. Maybe they're playing less forward passes because they're retaining the ball.

"But they have that bit of quality in the final third and that's what we're striving for. I know there is great hope for us here.

"When we get it right we will be fine and there will be many players who want to come here because we're a big draw.

"We might not be getting success now but in time we will get there, I'm certain of that."

Reading fans may find it difficult to agree with Rodgers' ethos with his team currently in the bottom three and facing a massive game at home to high-flying Blackpool this Saturday (3pm ko).

The fact his side have not won any of their eight home games in the Championship this season may also suggest that the coaching ideas Rodgers formed in five years at Chelsea may not translate to this level.

However, the 36-year-old Northern Irishman is having none of it. And it seems a statement recently made by Sky Sports pundit Paul Merson backs up Rodgers' approach to the beautiful game.

The ex-Arsenal and England playmaker told viewers that Arsene Wenger should send all his youngsters to Reading on loan because they are the only side in the Championship who play football the right way.

"It's interesting a guy of that status has seen that," admitted Rodgers. "When the big clubs are trying to position their players they look to the teams who play football a certain way.

"That's why we have been able to get young players here like Ryan Bertrand from Chelsea. I also have a relationship with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and people at Manchester United.

"They know what they will get when players come to us. If the timing is right, it's something we would love to do."