Royals up FOUR Palace battle

Anthony Smith • Published 16 Feb 2010 15:00 0 Comments

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BRIAN McDermott believes Reading's mini-revival has given them every chance of avoiding the drop as they prepare for a crucial six-pointer at Crystal Palace tomorrow night (8pm ko).

Reading have won their last three Championship games by beating Barnsley, Doncaster Rovers and Plymouth Argyle to boost their survival hopes.

Now they travel to South London aiming for four in a row knowing another victory would almost certainly lift them out of the Championship relegation zone.

Though Royals remain in the bottom three in 22nd place, they are only two points behind 17th-placed QPR with a game in hand on most teams above them.

McDermott said: "We're looking forward to Palace. It's a three point game, the same as Plymouth, Barnsley or Nottingham Forest. We'll just try and win it.

"What we have done in the last three games is put ourselves back in the pack and we want to keep the run going.

"There's not much between us and 12th so it's really, really tight.

"All we can do is do out stuff and see where we end up."

If Reading win they would move above Palace who are just one point in front in 19th position.

But McDermott knows all about the dangers posed by Neil Warnock's Eagles who triumphed 4-2 at Madejski Stadium in December in the corresponding fixture.

In fact, Warnock's side would be much higher up the table were it not for a recent 10-point deduction for going into administration.

And McDermott believes Warnock has introduced a siege mentality into the Palace dressing room as a means of coping with the financial stress.

"I went there to watch them play Wolves just after all this had come out," explained McDermott.

"The crowd there were really up for it and it's galvanised the club.

"I think Neil Warnock is really good at that. They have the `us against the world' syndrome and Neil does that very well.

"Sometimes these things can work for you if you manage it right. You can really get a good spirit going and it can work for you, like Neil has managed to do."

Like Reading, Palace were minutes away from booking their place in the FA Cup quarter finals last weekend only to concede a controversial late equaliser in a 2-2 draw with Aston Villa at Selhurst Park.

Royals were also leading West Bromwich Albion 2-1 at home but shipped a late leveller in a thrilling fifth round tie.

And if both Reading and Palace can win their replays next week, they would face each other in the quarters at Madejski Stadium on the weekend starting March 6.

"I saw Palace play Villa and it was a really good game," added McDermott. "It was similar to ours in that they were three minutes away from winning when they gave a goal away.

"They'll think they were unfortunate not to have got through, as we were.

"But we won't really looked at the draw until after West Brom next week.

"If we get through it's a home draw and then we will see. But it's good to still be in the hat."

MCDermott will make at least one change tomorrow night with Grzegorz Rasiak likely to come in for Shane Long who begins a four-match ban for his red card against the Baggies.

But it could be too early form midfield stars Gylfi Sigurdsson and Marek Matejovsky. "They've trained so we will see," he stated. "They're back in contention-ish."

Palace could also be boosted by the return of fit-again trio Lee Hills, Kieron Cadogan and Stern John who were all cup tied for the Villa clash.

Defender Matt Lawrence could also play some part for Warnock's side.

* ROYALS Academy Director Eamonn Dolan has signed a new long-term contract.

The 42-year-old former Exeter City boss joined Reading in 2004 and has helped develop a string of players for the first team.

It is thought he has penned a three year deal.

* SIXTEEN-year-old Jordan Obita has signed a contract with Reading until summer 2013.

The high-rated attacking midfielder has been with Royals Academy since the age of eight.

He will join on a full-time basis in July once he has completed his GCSEs.

* IT WILL be a case of `third time lucky' for Reading's Championship home clash against Newcastle United at Madejski Stadium.

The original fixture planned for January 9 was hit by severe snow.

And the rescheduled date for next Tuesday has also put back due to Reading's FA Cup replay at West Brom.

Now a third date has been set for Tuesday, April 13 (8pm).

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