Paul Ince delivered this brutal verdict on Sunderland defeat and what went wrong for his side

Reading boss Paul Ince said his side's heavy defeat to Sunderland on Wednesday night was a 'wake-up call' after a strong start to the campaign.
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Ince's side had been expected to be facing a relegation battle this season but particularly on home turf had produced an excellent set of results in the early weeks of the campaign.

Ince admitted Tony Mowbray's side were 'hungrier' and 'showed more determination' as they ran out 3-0 winners despite losing Ellis Simms, their only recognised striker, to an injury half an hour into the game.

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"From the first minute, we were nervous, defending deep," Ince said.

Patrick Roberts fires Sunderland into the leadPatrick Roberts fires Sunderland into the lead
Patrick Roberts fires Sunderland into the lead

"We didn't get into midfield, onto the second balls and we weren't competitive or aggressive enough. They wanted it more than us. "We didn't hold the ball up up front and all the things that have got us to where we are now were not there so that's disappointing.

"Maybe it's a good result for us as it gets everyone back on the ground.

"Our target is to stay in the league and because we've had such a good start you hear people talking about play-offs and all that rubbish. I could just sense it around the stadium, the club, maybe the players too.

"All that talk, I don't like it," he added.

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"People getting over the top. This has brought us back down to earth. We have to stay in the league and to do that we have to compete and fight to win. You have to do the basics but we didn't do that. The disappointing thing is if you go back to Rotherham and Sheffield United, when we concede two goals we capitulate.

"We are mentally weak, people start doing their own thing, become individuals - and that's going back to last year.

"The only way we can get results is if we do the basics right. We did nothing like that. We had a couple of chances but we're losing headers at the back to Pritchard who is 5ft 7in. We didn't win anything in midfield or hold anything up top.

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"There is not one player on the pitch who can say he had a good game.

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"They were hungrier than us, showed more desire and determination. I won't be too harsh because if we look at it - four wins out of five at home and 15 points, you'd take it all day long. But it's the manner of the defeats I don't like and this was that time.

"Hopefully it's come at the right time. People can get their feet back on the ground and need to understand where we are.

"We have a threadbare squad and it's going to be a tough season so this is a wake-up call for everybody."

Sunderland's win took them into sixth position in the Championship table, within one point of Ince's Reading who travel to Wigan Athletic on Saturday afternoon.

The Black Cats are staying in the south ahead of their trip to Vicarage Road to face Watford.