McDermott lauds home form but warns of Derby threat

Anthony Smith • Published 10 Mar 2010 12:00 0 Comments

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BRIAN MCDermott is wary of Derby County's threat ahead of tonight's league clash at the Madejski Stadium (8pm ko).

Royals are the form team in the Championship with five wins from their last six games.

And McDermott's side are seeking three more points tonight as they attempt to bounce-back from Sunday's 4-2 defeat to Aston Villa in the FA Cup quarter finals.

But the Rams have already beaten Royals 2-1 at Pride Park in November and McDermott knows what a well-drilled outfit they have become under Nigel Clough.

"Derby are a good side with strong Championship players who know what they're doing and it is going to be a hard game," declared Royals' boss.

"We know what we're up against. We have to concentrate on this game and I'm sure we'll get the fans behind us again.

"But we're looking forward to Derby now. We're enjoying coming to work and the cup run has been fantastic for everybody."

McDermott hopes that three points tonight will also erase the memory of arguably the worst day in football in his 30 year career.

It came right at the end of the 2007/08 Premier League season when Fulham beat Portsmouth to stay up, rendering Reading's 4-0 victory at Pride Park worthless.

"I probably had the worst experience of my life at Derby in the last game of the season," he recalled.

"We were winning 4-0 and we were looking at the clock. I was sitting next to Nigel Gibbs just behind the dugout and it got the 60 minutes and it was 0-0 at Fulham, then 70 minutes it was 0-0 then 74 mins and they scored.

"I went out the back and looked at the tv for about five minutes thinking `please score, please score,' but they didn't.

"Getting on the bus afterwards was a feeling you don't want to have.

"It was my worst experience in football but unfortunately that's part of the game and those things happen."

Sunday's gut-wrenching FA Cup exit to Villa was McDermott's first loss at the Madejski Stadium in any competition since coming to power in December.

But the 48-year-old has been delighted with the transformation in Royals' home form, which saw them go almost 11 months without winning league fixture in 2009.

"In 2010- we've been very good in the league at home and the cup games including Villa have been fantastic," he argued.

"I spoke to Martin O'Neill afterwards and he admitted Villa were happy to go in 2-0 down.

"I watched the first half of the game this week and it really was a great performance against a top class side.

"But in the he second-half they had their spell and got the goals. Having said that we came right back into it at 3-2 which tells you how far we've come."

McDermott faces a decision at centre-back where Blackburn loanee Zurab Khizanishvili comes back into contention after the Georgia captain was cup tied for the Villa clash.

Kalifa Cisse and Brynjar Gunnarsson are also pushing for starts in midfield but McDermott is likely to keep the core of the side that faced Villa.

Jobi McAnuff will serve the last of his three game suspension and he will be available for Saturday's visit of Bristol City (3pm ko).

Reading remain just one point above the relegation zone despite their impressive form, while Derby are 16th in the table and a further four points in front having played two games more.

Meanwhile, Derby boss Clough is sweating over Michael Tonge who battled through a virus to score Rams' opening goal in their 2-0 home win against Watford on Saturday.

On-loan forward Gilles Sunu could come in as a replacement while skipper Robbie Savage (foot) and defenders Shaun Barker (knee) and Jay McEveley (foot) are all back in training after picking up knocks.

*** A YOUNG Royals reserves suffered a narrow 1-0 defeat to Exeter City reserves last night.

Reading's back four consisted entirely of first-year scholars and their caused was not helped by injuries to Jacob Walcott and Carl McHugh during the clash at Farnborough's Cherrywood Road.

The Grecians netted the decisive goal before the break but Royals almost salvaged a draw when substitute James Rowe's effort crashed off the bar.

Reserves and Academy boss Eamonn Dolan, who is also an ex-Grecians manager, said: "Exeter were the best team in the first half and caused us problems. They were very experienced and it was a great learning curve for our young boys.

"It will do the guys a world of good to come up against the likes of Stuart Fleetwood and Craig McAlister."

Reading: Locke, Arnold, McHugh (Isaac 30), Kelly, Hector, Macdonald (Stockinger 60), Bell-Baggie, Davies, White, Taylor, Walcott (Rowe 46). Subs not used: Smith, Goddard. ***

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