Reading FC manager Paul Ince was incredibly relieved to get the 1-0 win over Blackburn Rovers on Saturday, however his wife is probably even more relieved.

A stunning Josh Laurent strike in the final 15 minutes was enough to give the Royals a first home of the month, on Mrs Ince’s birthday.

Speaking after the win over the promotion-chasing Rovers, Ince was in high spirits before heading off for a Chinese meal with his family.

When quizzed on his future, he joked: “It’s my wife’s birthday today, I’m going out for dinner. The last thing I wanted today was to get beat on my wife’s birthday and be a grumpy sod at the restaurant table so I’m happy about that. My job is to keep this team up. I’m not there yet, we’ve got a long way to go, if we do then we go from there. All this morning I’m thinking, 'I’ve got to get a result' not just for the lads but because I’m going out with my wife. I wouldn’t want to be so grumpy at the dinner table with my daughter and son so I’m happy today."

Reading Chronicle:

Continuing in high spirits, the former England midfielder emphasised his pride in his team after picking up four points in a difficult three-game week.

However, he is not taking his foot off of the gas, insisting there’s still a long way to go.

He added: “When you get a draw at Bournemouth that gives you a lot of confidence, then when you back it up with a win a home, only a second time they’ve won at home in four months, you probably want to keep playing and the games to come thick and fast, but you look at the lads in the changing room and they’re on the floor, they’ve had such a hard week with three games. It’s not just us but other teams have bigger squads than us. If you ask the players they’ll probably ask if they can play tomorrow because they’re in that frame of mind at the moment, but they need a rest, come back nice and refreshed after a few days off and we go to Oakwell for the next one.

“It was an important result today, we take each game as it comes, there’s going to be lots of twists and turns. If we can win that [Barnsley] that’s going to be eight points and its tougher for them, if they win it it’s back to two points so you can’t get carried away. We go there full of confidence and see what happens but there’s lot more games. After seeing the results at lunchtime it was important that we got something from the game.”