Paul Ince has called on Reading to be more disciplined against Millwall – and adds that their supporters are going to be huge if they are to win.
The Lions are looking to make it five wins a row for the first since 2012.
The South London club’s 1-0 victory over Sheffield United last weekend means Millwall have picked up four clean sheets in their last seven league matches, which dates back to their 2-0 victory over West Brom in January.
Only Fulham, Cardiff City and Derby County have found the back of Bartosz Bialkowski’s net in that run with shutouts coming against the Baggies, Preston North End, QPR and the Blades.
Millwall beat Reading 1-0 in the reverse fixture at The Den in September, with Benik Afobe netting the winner. The latter should be fit to face the Royals after recovering from a hamstring injury he suffered last month.
Reading interim boss Ince said: “We’ve got to learn to be mentally tough when we’re out of possession. Sometimes if you look at games, as soon as we lose the ball we’re so out of shape.
“There’s so many gaps and we get counter attacked. I don’t want the next 12 games I’m in charge of to be like a basketball match – we attack, they attack. It’s not entertaining for me it will give me a heart attack.
“It’s great we want to play entertaining football, but we’re in a situation where we need to get some wins and we can’t afford to think it’s we attack, they attack.
“We have to put some discipline into them when we’re out of shape and out of possession. If you’re in shape it saves you so much to do, and that’s what they don’t fully realise.
“The fans are going to be our 12th man [against Millwall]. You only want fans who can understand the situation we are in. The Reading fans see that and want us to do well.
“They understand how tough it is in this moment of time. They understand the politics behind it. That’s important for the players to know they have the fans on their side.
“Being back at home, being in front of the fans could be the way for us to stay in this league. We’re looking forward to it [playing Millwall at home], we believe we can win home and away. But it will be nice to be back at home and we need to bounce back [from Blackpool].”