Reading legend Brian McDermott has hailed the Royals' 'bounce-back ability' as Paul Ince's side sit third in the Championship.
Synonomous with the club- spending 13 years in a variety of roles, including leading the club to the Premier League in 2012.
Still a regular watcher of the club, McDermott gave his view on the Berkshire outfit exclusively to the Reading Chronicle.
"One of the big traits is bounce-back ability," he started. "They get a bad result against Sunderland but go and win at Wigan. That’s a really important trait, and that’s what they’ve done. In the Championship you can lose, and you can lose 3-0, it’s what you do in the next game that counts. That tells you something about the people you’ve got in your dressing room. That is a key component of any team that is together- they can bounce back after a poor defeat.
"There’s no point dwelling on a victory or a poor defeat, you just have to keep moving. Stay in the moment and concentrate on winning the next game. That’s exactly what they’re doing."
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Under difficult circumstances, including a transfer embargo in which the club can only bring in free agents and loan signings, Ince was nominated for Manager of the Month in August and the club sit in the upper echelons of the Championship.
Despite not being able to spend money, McDermott has hailed the recruitment over the summer.
"The recruitment has been excellent in my opinion," he explained. "They’re signing free transfers but all with the same characteristics. All of the guys that they’ve signed have all got really good characteristics. If they’re not in the team, they’re supporting the team. If they’re not on the bench they’re supporting from the sides, everyone will play their part. That’s what’s really encouraging, in my opinion."
Well-known for his mantra of focusing solely on the next game, the fan favourite has encouraged the team to keep doing what they are doing.
"They’ve got a game against Huddersfield. That’s the next game. The only game in town is the Huddersfield game. They’ll put all of their effort into that game and try to get a performance, go through the process, not look too far ahead, and try to win the game. Then you look at the next one.
"If you start looking 12 games in advance, I’d be panicking but it doesn’t matter, you’ve got what the fixtures say you’ve got. You get on with it a game at a time. I’ve been really impressed with all the work from the staff and the players."
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