Former Reading boss Paul Ince believes the club have 'lost the soul of the club' with the departure of experienced players and long-serving staff.

The former England captain replaced Veljko Paunovic in March 2022 and helped keep the Royals in the Championship.

Starting 2022/23 in form, results tailed off after the World Cup break and the club finished 22nd, winning just twice from February onwards.

This was alongside a points deduction which hit in April, leaving little time to turn results around.

Since returning to the third tier, the likes of Andy Carroll, Sam Hutchinson and Harlee Dean have all either left or seen their minutes significantly reduced.

Key stars such as Yakou Meite, Tom Ince and Lucas Joao all left for little to no return over the summer, leaving Ruben Selles with a squad overhaul.

Reading Chronicle:

Speaking to InstantCasino, he said: “They’re on 23 points, four behind Exeter who are on 27 [at time of interview]. It’s tough. I’ve managed Reading and I know how tiring it can be managing a team under a transfer embargo where you can’t buy any players and you’ve got the lowest budget in the league, so it was tough for me in the Championship. If you look at all the players who left when I left, they’ve lost the soul of the club – the leaders in the dressing room – and that’s down to those who work above.

“It’s a sorry state of affairs and I feel for Rubén Sellés because I know how tough it is managing the club, even though I love the club and the fans, it’s going to be a tough year this year and it is imperative that they stay in this league, it really, really is. They’ve got four tough games coming up against Derby, Leyton Orient, Oxford, and Stevenage, so let’s see how they do there.

“It’s going to be a really hard year to get out [of relegation] and I really hope they can. It’s a fantastic club with some fantastic fans and it needs new investors. You just feel for the people who’ve worked there for years, and I’ve heard stories of people being made redundant and you’ve got to feel for them. That’s been their life and soul for twenty to thirty years. I still speak to people who work at the club and it’s not a great feeling at Reading at the moment. It must be tough for the manager and the players, but they’ve just got to try and put that to the side."

Four points adrift of safety in League One, the club are staring down the barrel of successive relegations for the first time in it's 152-year history.

This is amid serious mismanagement from owner Dai Yongge, who has taken the club from the brink of the Premier League to the brink of League Two in six years.