Adam Le Fondre feels Reading have improved since Nigel Adkins was installed as manager.
The former Southampton boss was appointed after the club decided to part company with Brian McDermott.
He was ultimately unsuccessful in his bid to stave off relegation from the Premier League, but Le Fondre believes the team’s style of play is generally better under Adkins.
“You can see the massive progression we have made under the new manager and the contrast in styles,” he told the Reading Chronicle.
“No disrespect to Brian and how we played before, but it’s a totally different kind of football in the Premier League than the Championship.
“If you keep giving the ball away, trying to turn teams and don’t have any sustained possession, teams tend to hurt you.
“Premier League clubs have got players good enough to keep the ball for five or six minutes and suddenly you are chasing shadows. One false move and they cut through you straight away.
“When strikers are at the top of their game they only need one chance and you are one nil down and chasing the game.”
Reading survived just one season in their return to the flight after promotion in the 2011-12 season.
But the striker feels that with Adkins at the helm, and the talent in the squad, they can make an immediate return.
“He’s (Adkins) only been here for a handful of games, but we’ve come on leaps and bounds,” he added.
“We’re keeping the ball better and starting to control games with a little more possession.
“We’re getting a foothold in games which we weren’t really doing earlier in the season. We were sort of riding our luck and hoping for the best. That’s tough to say but that’s what we were doing.
“Now there’s a structure about our play. With a bit of fine tuning we can keep progressing.
“I think we will come back stronger next season, we will have that hunger to play in the Premier League again, it’s what everyone wants.
“We’ve all got to have that hunger and desire to play there because it’s the best league in the world. We know what the Championship is all about. We ground it out the season before last and won the title and we need to do it again.
“I believe we’ve got enough experience and quality to do that.”
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