Paul Ince on Sunderland defeat: 'That's a game we shouldn't lose'

Paul Ince said he was happy with the Reading performance at the Stadium of Light, especially given the quality Sunderland have.

Reading fell to a 1-0 defeat on Wearside, with Patrick Roberts scoring the only goal of the game late on after a Baba Rahman mistake.

There were few among the home crowd who did not feel Sunderland fully deserved the three points, although Reading boss Ince didn’t really see it that way.

“You get the killer punch in the 85th minute and you lose a game you shouldn’t lose,” Ince said.

“The first half we nullified them, you could sense it in the fans. Great support Sunderland have got and we knew it was going to be tough, but we had to quieten the fans and in the first half we did that.

“We had three or four opportunities where if we were more precise in our transition we would have opened them up.

“Coming in at half-time half our job was done, so it was more of the same. Every time the ball went into their box they were uncomfortable.

“Of course, they will have one or two chances. You think you’ve ridden the worst and then you make a mistake and that’s how they win the game- there’s nothing else to say.”

Reading were physical and direct, but they certainly won no style points during the game. Ince, though, says he was still proud of how his players performed.

“I am pleased to come here and play the way we did,” he said. “We’re talking about a Sunderland team with some really nice technicians. We kept them relatively quiet. To come here and put in the performance we did has to give you some positivity.

“It took the players seven hours to get here on the coach. That’s a long time. I’m really pleased with the boys’ attitude, especially in front of the tough crowd. We refresh, move forward and go into Rotherham.”

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