The Championship is a brutal league, and offers no safe haven for anybody – that's the verdict of Royals boss Mark Bowen.
Rejuvenated Reading face Nottingham Forest on Saturday, hoping to make it three games unbeaten under their new manager.
The Royals will arrive at the City Ground buoyed by three points over play-off chasing Preston and a battling draw with QPR in midweek, while Forest are smarting from back to back defeats which ended their 10-game unbeaten run.
Fresh from facing the Lillywhites and Rs, Bowen admits life continues to be testing in the Championship.
“It doesn’t get any easier – but that’s why we’re here,” the Welshman said.
“This is the brutality of this league; no hiding place and no rest-up. You have to wipe yourselves down and go again, and I know these guys will do.
“The main thing since I’ve stepped into this role is that every one of the players wants to improve and every one of them wants to do well for the club.
“They all want to get further up the table, and to fight for each other. What a fantastic situation for me to inherit a group like that.
“It is a hard, long season. You have to grind out games and keep putting points on the board.
“We can take enormous confidence from the last two games into our trip this weekend. We’ll recover after QPR, as you have to in this league, and we’ll be ready for Nottingham Forest on Saturday.”
