READING FC boss Brian McDermott has spoken of his frustrating period in charge of Leeds United as he prepares to return to Elland Road tomorrow (3pm ko), writes Anthony Smith.

It was Leeds who offered McDermott a swift route back into management after losing his job with Reading in March 2013.

But his brief 13-month spell in the Elland Road hotseat proved to be a turbulent one.

Limited success on the pitch coincided with the takeover by controversial Italian, Massimo Cellino.

The situation became almost farcical in January 2014 when it was reported McDermott had been sacked by Cellino, only to be reinstated a couple of days later.

It became clear that McDermott's long-term future was unlikely to be at Elland Road, and he parted company with the club at the end of that season.

He reflected: “What happened, happened. I honestly thought we would finish at least in the play-offs when I was at Leeds.

“We didn't have a lot of pace in the team, but were getting results and we had a chance to go fourth around Christmas time if we had beaten Blackpool.

“However, for three months it went wrong and that was that.

“But I was proud to be the manager of Leeds and I'm looking forward to going back.

“I did the best I could for the club and that's all you can really do.”

While McDermott was eager to stress he holds no grudges over his time at Leeds, he will be determined to pick up three points tomorrow following back-to-back Championship defeats to Birmingham City and Middlesbrough.

The teams are level on 51 points in the table with only goal difference separating Reading in 14th and Leeds one place below.

“Leeds is a great club with great fans,” declared McDermott. “They turn up in big numbers and I’m sure they will be out in force on Saturday

“I know the manager there, Steve Evans, pretty well. He’s done a great job in his career ad he’s doing a good job at Leeds because, as I know, the circumstance can be difficult at times.

“But Leeds is a great club, they treated me well there. I have good memories of the place.

“You don’t realise until you go there and are manager of Leeds United. It’s a very big club, I would love to see them doing well going forward and getting some stability.

“We're both level on points so it's a big game for us. When you play Leeds it is always a big game with 20,000-plus fans. We're looking forward to it and want to get cracking now."

Reading will be without the services of Paul McShane and Danny Williams who both start their three match bans after accepting an FA violent conduct charge following their bust-up at Middlesbrough on Tuesday night.

Full-backs Jordan Obita (hamstring) and Chris Gunter (groin) have both been ruled out, while Hal Robson-Kanu (salf) is yet to return to training and striker Yann Kermorgant is unavailable as his wife is due to give birth.

Anton Ferdinand is likely to replace McShane in the heart of defence, with Andrew Taylor stepping in for Obita and winger Garath McCleary likely to perform a makeshift role at right-back.