Reading FC out to prove a point against Hull City
Anthony Smith • Published 20 Jan 2012 09:30
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ROYALS boss Brian McDermott is determined to settle an old score with Hull City when the sides clash in a mouthwatering promotion battle at Madejski Stadium on Saturday (3pm ko).
Reading's 1-0 defeat at KC Stadium back in August still rankles with McDermott and his in-form players.
It came at an unsettling time for the club following the multi-million pound sale of star striker Shane Long to West Brom and skipper Matt Mills to Leicester City.
The result was harsh in itself on the Royals as Robert Brady's long-range winner resembled an over-hit cross more than a genuine shot at goal.
Nevertheless, it condemned Reading to a third straight defeat in a four-match losing streak that left McDermott's side one place off the bottom of the Championship table.
But things are very different now, with Reading sitting fifth and above Hull on goal difference.
McDermott told the Chronicle: "Hull won at their place with a lucky goal in my opinion, but all credit to them. It happened during a difficult period for us, things were tough.Players had left and we were trying to find a settled side.
"But that's all in the past and things are different for us now, we've kicked on since then.
"We're two teams going well, we're neck-and-neck in the table. It should be a cracking game."
Reading began 2012 in poor fashion with a league defeat at Cardiff City followed by a shock FA Cup defeat by Stevenage at the Madejski Stadium.
Yet they recovered in style in front of the Sky Sports cameras last weekend in a 2-1 victory at Watford that cemented their place in the play-offs.
But McDermott stressed: "I never get too down about defeats or too carried away about victories.
"Sometimes we have an off day like we did against Stevenage in the cup, and we held our hands up to that.
"All we could do is address that in the next game and we did. Watford is never an easy place to go and we've struggled there in the past. It was a horrible night but we got the job done."
And he added: "I was delighted with our response to going a goal down. Hal Robson-Kanu's cross for Jimmy Kebe's equaliser was excellent. We kept pushing and Adam Le Fondre came off the bench to net a terrific winner, so we couldn't ask for more.
"Now we can move on with confidence. Last year we won eight in a row, now we've won seven of the last nine so we're not doing too badly."
Reading are sweating over the fitness of Kebe, Mikele Leigertwood and Jobi McAnuff who are all carrying knocks and will be tested before Saturday's big game.
Regardless of who plays, McDermott firmly believes that Royals fans will have a major role to play on Saturday - and over the remainder of the season.
"It's a huge game for us and hopefully we will get a big crowd in for it," he stated. "The most important thing is that we perform on the day. We didn't do that in the last home game against Stevenage so we need to make that up to the fans.
"They were so important for us at Watford. They stayed with and kept backing us when we were behind. They're going to have a big role to play."
This article appeared in Reading Chronicle 19 Jan 12
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Jan 20, 09:37
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