Reading defender fires warning to Sheffield United ahead of early top-of-table clash

Reading’s victory at Millwall saw them knock United into second place with Blades chief Paul Heckingbottom expecting Paul Ince’s side to be “geared up” when they make the trip to Bramall Lane on Tuesday evening.

Ince’s men have won their last three games, after losing 4-0 at Rotherham United on their last visit to South Yorkshire, and were victorious in S2 last season – with McIntyre scoring an injury-time winner.

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“I’ve got good memories from that place!” the defender said. “They’ll serve up a different type of test to the one we had at Millwall. They’re doing well as a team too, so I think it’ll be a good game.

“But all of us in the changing room have that togetherness and belief that we can go there and get a result.

“It’s nice to be playing in a winning team. We all know how hard it was for everyone last year when we weren’t getting that many wins. It’s a new season, with some fresh faces, and we’ve got what it takes to be competitive this year.

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“As a team we need to remember what we’re good at, rather than catering to other teams. We’ve done that so far this season on the whole. We need to combat them – but it is about your own strengths too, and it’s important to keep that in the forefront of our minds.”

Boss Ince insists he isn’t getting carried away with his side’s position after just six league games.

“My job is to make sure we keep our feet on the ground,” the former Manchester United midfielder added.

“We’ve got a long, long way to go. We want to stay in this league, that’s our aim.

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“The fans have suffered. But they’ve stuck with us. And they should enjoy it while they can. I’m sure they never envisaged we’d be where we are after six games. So let them enjoy that.“But that’s for them. Not us. We’ll keep our feet on the ground.”

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