LIAM Moore refuses to accept Reading FC are too good to go down.

Royals’ skipper admits clubs deserve to be where they finish after 46 games and that they have no divine right to be in the Championship.

Jose Gomes’ men threw away a priceless home victory over relegation rivals Rotherham United last weekend when they conceded a late equaliser and almost lost the game at the death.

It means Reading remain above the relegation zone on goal difference and now face back-to-back six pointers at bottom club Ipswich Town this Saturday (3pm ko) and home to Wigan Athletic a week later.

And the run-in is particularly daunting as Royals still have to play Leeds United (2nd), West Bromwich Albion (4th) and Birmingham City (8th) at home plus Norwich City (1st), Middlesbrough (5th) and Bristol City (6th) away.

In an exclusive interview with the Reading Chronicle, Moore said: “You can’t say a club isn’t a League One club or a Premier League club, that’s down to the players.

“You’ve got to get enough points over a season. It’s not a cup competition where you lose one game and you are out, there are 46 games and you will be judged on them. Inevitably, you deserve to be where you are.

“We need to start winning games. Our fate is in our own hands at the moment and we need to keep it like that. But Rotherham was a game we needed to win and we didn’t manage to do it. We must learn from it very quickly because we have 12 massive fixtures coming up.”

Historically, Championship teams have needed around 46 points to guarantee survival.

Reading currently sit on 30 points with six wins from 34 fixtures meaning Gomes men’ may have to win half of their 12 remaining matches to be certain of avoiding drop into League One.

Moore continued: “We knew Rotherham would be difficult, we’re on exactly the same points. But look, it’s still in our own hands and we’ve got to keep grinding away.

“The most important thing after 46 games is that we’re still in the Championship. We have a better goal difference than Rotherham but I really hope it doesn’t come down to that at the end of the season.

“It’s difficult because we haven’t won games. But there are 36 points still to play for and if you gave us half of those right now we would be over the line.

“It’s a big ask because of how the season has gone, but we need to stay positive and try and earn as many points as we can. I believe we can win games, but the performances need to be better.”

Ovie Ejaria put Royals in front against Rotherham only for Royals to waste a host of chances to build on their lead before Semi Ajayi equalised in the 80th minute.

“As defenders we need to keep the ball out of the net, but we didn’t do that on Saturday so we didn’t do our job,” stressed Moore. “It’s frustrating, there is no point sugar-coating it. We need to keep clean sheets and win games and I don’t care if we play well or not, winning is more important.”

Reading are likely to sell out their full allocation at Portman Road this weekend with around 1,600 fans set to make the trip to East Anglia after Ipswich Town slashed tickets prices to just £10 for both home and away supporters.

Reading FC have also reduced tickets prices for the vital home clash against Preston on March 30 to £15 adults, £10 over 65s, £8 for ages 18-24, £5 for Under 17s and £2 for Under 12s.

The offer applies to all stands at Madejski Stadium with tickets costing the same on matchdays.