‘Maybe our hardest game of the season’ - Reading boss Clement on basement battle
Reading manager Paul Clement sees the clash with Ipswich as the hardest of his side's season. Picture: PA - Credit: PA Archive/PA Images
Reading boss Paul Clement is expecting tomorrow’s bottom-of-the-table clash with Ipswich Town to be the ‘hardest game of the season’.
The Royals sit 22nd, five points clear of Ipswich, heading into a vital game for both clubs in their battle to beat the drop.
“For me this is a complicated game, a difficult game and whether we are playing bottom of the table or top of the table, all the games are difficult,” Clement said.
“I think Ipswich will come to us with a lot of motivation. They don’t want to be bottom and they need to try and close the gap between the teams above them, one of them being us.
MORE: Skuse on Lambert impact, applause for Roberts and the pain of relegation
“They have a new manager with a lot of experience who knows the league, knows the league above and knows European football.
“He will be working his players really hard and will have had another week to instil some of the ideas of how he wants his team to play.
“We would be very naïve to expect an easy game. I’m maybe expecting the opposite… maybe our hardest game of the season.
Most Read
- 1 Historic former pub with permission to convert into homes set for auction
- 2 Severe delays on major Suffolk route after crash
- 3 Double drink driver who killed Jennifer, 32, jailed six years and eight months
- 4 Gang who stole from Suffolk museum jailed for total of 74 years
- 5 'You have broken us!' - New cafe at Suffolk beauty spot on huge demand
- 6 Cyclist airlifted to hospital with serious injuries following incident
- 7 'Bonne Mania' made us all smile... it faded but we'll always have the memories
- 8 Suspected speeder detained after car crashes into field
- 9 Police carry out 'pre-planned' operation in Felixstowe road
- 10 Plans to explore Dutch-style cycling network in Suffolk town
“This weekend we need a good positive result which will get us out of the relegation zone and it will be a good moment for us to do that because we don’t play again for two more weeks.”
MORE: ‘Intelligence, a classy touch and a chip off the old block’ - Secret Scout on Town youngster Dozzell
Clement believes the recent appointment of Paul Lambert, who replaced Paul Hurst, gives his side an added danger.
“There has been a lot of managers who come in and had what they call the manager bounce – that immediate impact on performances and results,” he said.
“He got a draw in his first game and I think it’s a dangerous time to play a team when they’ve got a new manager.”