|
Last season, under the guidance of alan pardew, the team won an impressive twenty-five times. However, seventeen defeats put paid to any chances the club had of achieving automatic promotion.
Coppell believes if the club drew a lot of games this year instead of losing them they would be in a much stronger position. The win or lose trend has been the story of the season so far, the Royals have won seven, lost six and drawn just three times.
For example, the side should have earnt a point when they travelled to Crewe on Saturday, yet ended up with another defeat to add to the pile.
"What we have to do is get draws out of games we're losing – that's the critical factor," explained Coppell, speaking to the Reading Evening Post.
"In my six games, we've won four and lost two and that proves the point. We have got to get to a situation where we get something from games we’re losing.
"At Crewe I thought we deserved a draw. In terms of possession, chances and shots at goal we deserved a draw, but we didn't get it and consistency has got to get a little better. We have to be tighter and more frugal at the back while being more prolific up front," he added.
The Royals face high-flying Wigan on Saturday and whilst the fans will be hoping for a win one would think that Coppell would be happy to settle for a draw given that the Latics demolished Crystal Palace 5-0 last Saturday.
However, Coppell doesn't reckon there are any really top teams in Division One Based on his theory that even the likes of West Brom and Wigan aren't that great perhaps we can expect a post-Christmas Play-Off push?
"The one thing I think about the whole division is that there is not a massively outstanding team. There are a lot of even games which have been decided by either a piece of individual brilliance or a mistake," he commented
"That is often the difference between winning and losing a match."
Reading are expected to seek a player who can provide that individual touch with a striker hotly tipped to be the next in the Madejski Stadium door. The likes of Bobby Zamora or Lloyd Owusu could potentially be available whilst a certain Mr Cureton has failed to settle in South Korea.