Lita faces uncertain future

Anthony Smith • Last updated 15 May 2008 11:58 0 Comments

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LEROY Lita has admitted he does not know if he has a future at Reading.

Premier League newboys Stoke City are lining up a £4 million bid for the ex-England Under 21 striker.

And Lita has also been linked with a move back to his former club Bristol City for a similar fee depending on whether they triumph in the Championship play-off final against Hull City.

The 23-year-old striker rejected a new contract last summer and he has endured a frustrating season that saw him farmed out to Charlton on loan.

But he returned to help Reading in their fight for Premier League survival, a battle which was lost on the last day of the season.

Lita scored his first Premier League goal of the campaign in the last minute of the 4-0 victory at Pride Park then admitted: "I don't know if I have a future at Reading. I'm not prepared to talk about it because I'm only thinking about the team right now.

"We put in a great effort at Derby to keep the club in the Premier League. We won 4-0 but we came up short."

Lita's goal proved to be of little consolation to Reading or himself.

"It's a shame because it was a massive game for us and we were under a lot of pressure to win," he said.

"We played well but other results didn't go for us. But we can't blame that, we've got to look at ourselves.

"We haven't been good enough this season. We had plenty of chances to make sure we will be okay. Unfortunately, we weren't able to do it and we came up short.

"You can look at all the games we lost which perhaps we should have won. Look at Tottenham last week and the effort we put in. We lost when a point would have kept us up.

"But it's no good thinking like that and we've got to move on. We're down and everybody has got to recharge the batteries then get together again. We will deal with it then."

When Lita converted Stephen Hunt's cross with a bullet header, Reading's fate was already sealed as Fulham won at Portsmouth.

He ran over to the Reading fans to celebrate only to be greeted by half-hearted cheers from the 3,000 travelling supporters.

"I could tell from our fans' reaction that Fulham were winning," he recalled. "You could also tell by looking at our bench.

"Everyone was sat down and it was very quiet. But that's football, it happens. None of us have been in this situation before. Now everyone has got to make sure they are not in this position again, especially the younger ones, because it is not good.

"It's hard to think about the future right now. The Championship is not an easy division for anybody. A lot of teams who go down don't always go straight back up. Next season will be tough."

It has been suggested that Portsmouth may not have taken their game against Fulham too seriously with an FA Cup final on the horizon.

However, Lita would have none of it: "Listen, their focus has got to be on the FA Cup. They couldn't get any higher in the league and they had done their bit.

"They had a great season and they didn't owe us anything. It was down to us to achieve our own targets and we haven't done that. We can't blame anyone else.

"To be honest, I thought Fulham and Derby had gone weeks ago so Fulham deserve great credit. They say football can turn around very quickly. Their players and manager deserve a lot of respect.

"But we've got to forget about it now. I have no plans at the moment. I just don't know what to think."

This article appeared in Reading Chronicle 15 May 08

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