Reading boss Paul Ince labelled his side's festive period as a 'miracle' after picking up four points in less than six days.

Speaking after defeat to West Brom, the former England captain said: "It's been a tough gig over the last week or so. We've had an away game at Norwich, a couple of days off, and then we've come up to West Brom – we haven’t had any favours with our schedule that's for sure. But our spirit and togetherness got us through, and the encouragement from the fans who were great today.

"We have to keep going, keep accumulating points. The lads are disappointed in there because there was nothing in the second half. But what the players have achieved, playing in three games in less than six days, it's is a miracle"

Always a hectic spell, the Royals began the week with a home match to Swansea City on December 27, winning 2-1 live on Sky Sports.

A performance full of grit and battle, a crowd of almost 16,000 roared the side home- hanging on after conceding the consolation with 15 minutes remaining.

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Taking the side into the top 10, a visit to managerless Norwich City kept up the unbeaten run with a 1-1 draw.

The Canaries, sat in the top six, edged the first half and took the lead on the hour mark, but Andy Carroll converted a late penalty to earn a deserved point from Norfolk just three days later.

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Having even less time before the trip to West Brom, kicking off on January 2, the Baggies blew the visitors away early on yet somehow failed to tuck away any of their numerous chances.

It took until the hour mark, ironically when Reading began to get more of a footing in the game, that Daryl Dike headed home to take the three points.

Leaving the Royals with four points from a possible nine, many supporters were content with the return after a difficult series of fixtures.

Dropping from eighth to 13th, Reading are still just three points off the top six and a nice 10 points clear of the relegation zone after 26 matches.

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Nine teams picked up more points over the last three matches than Ince's outfit, including four who bagged the maximum of nine points.

Despite the positive results, it marks the club's worst return over a festive period for four seasons.

Due to a Covid-19 outbreak there were no matches over Christmas last year, and 2020/21 and 2019/20 returned seven and nine points respectively.

But prior to that, both the 2017/18 and 2018/19 campaigns saw the side earn just one point during their three festive fixtures.