READING FC striker Marc McNulty has admitted he will do all he can to leave the club permanently this summer.

The £1m signing from Coventry last summer endured a tough time with Royals as he scored just once in 15 appearances during the first half of the season.

However, after Joes Gomes arrived as manager and told McNulty he could leave on loan, the hitman then rattled in eight goals in 17 games for Scottish Premiership side Hibernian – earning himself an international call-up in the process.

He is due to return to Reading, but made no secret of the fact he wants to stay north of the border – albeit it will not be without issues.

He commented: “I’ve got three years left at Reading. It’s not just a case of me saying I want to go and Reading saying ‘all right, see you later’. It’s very complicated. It took ages to get the loan deal done.

“To make that permanent, I’m guessing it will be the same. There’s a lot of stuff in the background that makes that difficult. But if I need to push it, then I will."

He continued: “I don’t want to shut the door on anything, but I think I need to be settled somewhere.

"I can’t just keep going on loan after loan.

"I would push for the permanent side and try and get myself settled, but if that wasn’t possible and the only option was a loan, then I would be happy,” he told the Edinburgh News.

McNulty added: “I’ve just been told to report back to Reading for training on July 1 and Hibs are back on June 20.

"I’m going to guess Hibs will try and get something done before then so I am in with the boys, and personally I would like that too."

Meanwhile, Reading FC Women captain, Kirsty Pearce, has decided to retire from professional football at the age of 32.