Howard desperate to reclaim shirt

Anthony Smith • Published 11 Aug 2010 07:00

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BRIAN Howard hopes to issue Royals boss Brian McDermott with a stark reminder in tonight’s Carling Cup first-round tie at Torquay United (7.45pm ko).

Howard and midfield partner Jay Tabb were surprisingly overlooked last weekend and did not make McDermott’s starting line-up for the Championship curtain-raiser against Scunthorpe United.

McDermott opted for Brynjar Gunnarsson and Jem Karacan instead, though Tabb came on in the second-half.

But Howard remained on the bench and was spared the pain of the shock, opening day defeat to one of the division’s prime relegation candidates.

The decision to leave out Howard and Tabb - who finished last season as McDermott’s first-choice pairing - means they must wait until tonight’s clash at Plainmoor against the League Two Gulls to make their first competitive start of the campaign.

“I’m happy to be playing tonight,” insisted Howard. “Last weekend was the most disappointed and upset I’ve ever been in football really.

“Not to get a look in and not to be involved hurt a lot, especially when you lose to Scunthorpe at home.

“I think myself and Tabby had the same feeling, but that’s football and you move on. Torquay is another game and it’s a chance to go out there and play.”

However, Howard is unsure whether his performance against Torquay will enhance his chances of starting in Saturday’s Championship fixture against cash-strapped Portsmouth at Fratton Park.

“We’ll see how we go,” said the 27-year-old former Southampton trainee. “I’m not looking any further than Torquay at the moment.

“Hopefully we will get a good result down there. It will be an extremely tough game because Torquay are on a high and they had a good result at the weekend.”

Meanwhile, McDermott could make several changes for tonight’s cup tie with Michail Antonio, Hal Robson-Kanu, Grzegorz Rasiak, Abdulai Bell-Baggie and goalkeeper Ben Hamer among those likely to come in.

Royals boss has also added 16-year-old Jordan Obita and 17-year-old Lawson D’Ath to his squad, though he is wary of the dangers Torquay pose.

The Gulls opened their League Two campaign with a comprehensive 3-0 home win over Northampton Town last Saturday and sit top of the table.

“They’ve got a great run going, they play a certain way and they haven’t conceded a goal for eight games,” warned McDermott. “You’ve got to give them credit and the utmost respect.

“It will be tough, but I’ll pick a team to go there and win.”

Royals trio Matt Mills, Shane Long and Jobi McAnuff did not travel with the squad after picking up knocks at the weekend.

Long has also withdrawn from the Republic of Ireland squad for their friendly against Argentina tonight.

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