Brendan Rodgers insists he will continue to work “day and night” to ensure Royals end their 17-match winless streak at Madejski Stadium.

Despite some promising results on their travels, Reading haven’t tasted league success on their own turf since they beat Wolves 1-0 on January 27.

And that horrendous sequence of results mean Royals head into the international break in the Championship relegation zone.

Rodgers said: “There has never been a team so different away from home than at home.

“Whenever you see the performances away, especially the Coventry one where we played really well, and then you see our first-half performance (against Ipswich) there is a difference.

“We felt this would be the week where we cracked our horrendous home form. We defended poorly from a throw-in and all of a sudden its uphill again.”

Rodgers believes that a change in luck could help Royals end their unwanted home record against Blackpool a week Saturday.

He added: “I’m fed up with looking at stats. Most times we are the best team with the ball. We create chances, have shots on target, but especially at home we just need that luck.

“I thought it was coming against Ipswich and the crowd were great again just trying to push us over the line.

“Coventry away was an excellent result and here we would have hoped to have won. The results probably came the other way to what we expected, but I feel confident with this group now.

“We have a good balance to the team. We just need a bit more invention, especially at home.

“Away from home we will be fine, but here at home where the responsibility is on us to take the game to the opponent, we just need that little bit more.

“We have another opportunity against Blackpool and I feel that once we do get that win then it will be a massive lift to the players and the supporters and we can move on from it.”

With more than a third of the season already gone, Rodgers revealed he will use the international break to reflect on Reading’s campaign so far.

He said: “We played well in the last couple of games and it gives us time to take stock

“I have to think about later on down the line in relation to where we are at and where we can improve, so it is a good period to reflect and hopefully manoeuvre things about that will enable us to progress.

“You always have to search and look, but sometimes I say to the players that ‘analysis is paralysis’. You can analyse things too much and we just need the ball to go in.

“We will continue to look for that winning formula at home and I will work day and night to do so.”

Site navigation

• Home
• News
• Business
• Sport
• Entertainment
• Lifestyle
• Jobs
• Property
• Motoring
• Classifieds

• A A