Royals boss shuns Villa video show ahead of cup blockbuster

Anthony Smith • Published 5 Mar 2010 08:00 0 Comments

See also:

BRIAN McDermott has revealed he will not be studying videos of Aston Villa before Sunday's mammoth FA Cup quarter-final at the Madejski Stadium (1.45pm ko, live ITV1).

Royals boss has declined to show his players clips of opposition teams since he took charge in mid-December.

It has sparked a dramatic improvement in their league form as well as their best cup run for 83 years.

And McDermott sees no need to change for the historic clash against Martin O'Neill's Premier League giants and beaten Carling Cup finalists.

He explained: "Some people look at the opposition and spend hours watching videos.

"But I know the opposition so well and I know the Championship off by heart so I can talk our players through it, and show them in training sessions on the pitch.

"I also know Villa because they have established Premier League players. The key is we do our work and concentrate on ourselves. We will look for any weaknesses Villa may have and try and get into the next round."

While McDermott is wary of the pace of Villa's Gabriel Agbonlahor, Ashley Young and a possible start for ex-Royal Steve Sidwell, he is clearly unfazed by the prospect of tackling O'Neill's star-studded side, who lost 2-1 to Manchester United in Sunday's Carling Cup final and are also chasing a Champions League spot.

"Sidwell might start, you never know, but we know their players well enough," he added "Martin wants to progress and get to Wembley for another cup final as much as I do.

"They've got good players in wide areas and up the pitch. But it doesn't worry me. We will try and play to our strengths and we will set up a plan to try and win.

"Since I took over this job I have not shown the players one single video of the opposition, I just concentrate on us.

"I will address it on the pitch and I will do a pattern of play. If I'm going to put a video together it will be about us.

"I think it's the right way. It works for me and it works for the players."

Royals have not had an easy path into their first quarter final since 1927, with Villa their third top-flight opponents along the way.

The club celebrated its first ever victory at Anfield to knock out Liverpool then disposed of Burnley and West Brom to reach the last eight.

"This cup run has put us back on the map, throughout Europe really," beamed McDermott, whose appointment has also sparked a renaissance in the Championship.

"Now there are eight teams left in the country and we're the only Championship one.

"But we want to go as far as we can. The cup has not been a distraction. My players make me very proud.

"For me the West Brom replay felt like a low-key game between two Championship sides. The writing on the wall suggested we would lose and we went behind in the game.

"But I felt the size of that game would only be realised if we got through and it shows what a big, big win it was.

"Now there are eight teams left in the country and were the only one form the Championship.

"But we want to go as far as we can. The cup has not been a distraction, we try and win every game.

"The the way the players have performed and conducted themselves made me massively proud and hopefully we will have another performance I can be proud of this Sunday."

And he added: "The club has made a few quid out of the cup which is great.

"We don't look at it like that, we see it as an opportunity and a wonderful time.

"The last time Reading reached the quarter finals was 1927, let's see how far we can progress now."

Return to the main index, get more from this section or browse our Sport archives.

Follow @rdgchronicle