Published: Thursday, 26th November, 2009 10:00am

Marek praises Rodgers' style

by Anthony Smith

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MAREK Matejovsky insists Reading play much better football under Brendan Rodgers than Steve Coppell.

Coppell became the most successful manager in Reading's history when he took them up to the Premier League by winning the Championship with a record 106 points.

It was also Coppell who brought Matejovsky to the Madejski Stadium in a £1.3 million deal from Polish side Mlada Boleslav in January 2008.

He has played 47 times for the club and scored twice, including a stunning long-range strike against Liverpool at Anfield.

And even though the 27-year-old mercurial midfielder has been asked to play a more defensive role recently, he believes their current brand of football is more pleasing on the eye.

"Brendan likes to play more football and more passes and to keep the ball on the floor," he explained.

"Both are really good managers because when I came to Reading it was a good time for me and I played under Steve Coppell in the Premier League.

"But now I think the football we play is a little bit better for the fans. The football Brendan wants to play looks good."

And he also admitted: "My role in the middle with Brian Howard is a little different now to what it's been at other clubs.

"I'm in front of the central defender and must play more balls from the keeper and full-backs and not get forward too much. It worked well against Blackpool and I hope it will be the same at Derby this Saturday."

Matejovsky has forced his way back into Rodgers' side and he had a hand in both goals in last weekend's 2-1 home win against Blackpool scored by Gylfi Sigurdsson and Grzegorz Rasiak.

His return to form has not gone unnoticed by new Czech manager Vladimir Smicer, who recalled Matejovsky for two games during the recent international break.

"I'm not a scorer, more of a passer," he said. "It doesn't matter who scores as long as the team is winning.

"Everyone wants to play and it's the same with me. I'm really happy to be playing in the team and winning now.

"I also got a call from the international team recently after a long time away. I played 90 minutes on the Sunday and 75 on the Wednesday. We have a young squad and the new manager's first game but I enjoyed it."

Meanwhile, goalkeeper Adam Federici says Reading can still challenge for promotion this season if their form continues.

"We've played some fantastic football recently and to win at home against Blackpool was fantastic for us and the fans," said the 24-year-old Australia international.

"Things have improved massively since the QPR game. It was a wake up point and we have realised we can do well in the league.

"Our confidence has been lifted and we believe we are better than most teams in the Championship."

And he argued: "We've been looking at the table and we're not that far away.

It's been going through our heads how many points we need for the play-offs so if we keep our run of form going there's no reason we can't make the play-offs or even better."

Reading travel to Derby County this Saturday looking to extend their unbeaten run to four matches (3pm ko).

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