Reading boss Paul Ince said he could not become a manager who sits high in the stand during matches, having had to do so in the 2-0 defeat to West Brom this month.

Coming down with a virus, similar to Joe Lumley and Tom Holmes, Ince spent the afternoon against the Baggies in Mr Dai's box, while Alex Rae was on the touchline barking orders.

When quizzed on whether he prefers the lofty perch, as iconic manager Steve Coppell did, or in the thick of it on the sideline- there was only one answer.

Reading Chronicle:

"I have to be on the touchline so the players can hear my voice and I can command and demand," he said. "That was the funny thing against West Brom because I’m sitting in the chairman’s box and I’m on the phone and all you can see is Alex Rae answering the phone and shouting at him to ‘get him here’ and ‘get him there’. I must’ve done it 50 times.

"It wasn’t great and it wasn’t nice as I don’t feel I can make an impact on my players. I couldn’t go down at half-time to get my message across and that was the game where I thought we started slow, but second half we were brilliant. You can’t relay that message to the players. As much as you’ve got the assistant manager and first team coaches, players need to hear the manager’s voice and I couldn’t do that. It was very frustrating."

Missing for just one match, the former England captain returned to his usual position for the defeat to Swansea City and win over Bristol City.