Graeme Murty made a successful return to the SCL Stadium, leading Sunderland Under-21s to a 2-1 win over Noel Hunt's Royals.

Despite pressing hard throughout, the Black Cats scored either side of half-time, and held on after Kelvin Ehibhatiomhan pulled one back in the closing stages.

The former captain, with over 300 appearances for the club, joined the North-East outfit earlier in the season after time out following his departure from Scottish giants Rangers.

Below, we look at other former Reading favourites to have managed against their former side at RG2.

Mark McGhee

An influential figure at Reading both on and off the pitch, the Scot moved to Berkshire in 1991 as a player-manager after a stellar career with Aberdeen and Celtic.

Scoring seven in 45 appearances, he retired from the playing side in 1993 and lead the club to promotion from the third tier in 1994.

Setting the wheels in motion for an iconic season, he controversially left to join Leicester City midway through the campaign, with Mick Gooding and Jimmy Quinn taking the club all the way to the play-off final.

Never managing against the club for the Foxes, he returned with next club Wolves fto a vociferous Elm Park.

Going on to lead Brighton and Millwall, he brought both sides to the-then Madejski Stadium, beating Alan Pardew's Reading 4-3 in his first visit to the new stadium.

Lawrie Sanchez

A stalwart for his hometown club in the 1970s and 1980s, Sanchez played almost 300 times for the club until his departure in 1984.

Becoming synonomous with Wimbledon, he famously scored the winning goal as the Dons beat Liverpool in the 1988 FA Cup final.

Becoming Wycombe Wanderers boss in 1999, his first visit to the Madejski Stadium came in March of that year as Reading beat the Chairboys 2-1.

Beating the Buckinghamshire outfit in RG2 every time under Sanchez, the next time they met was for a Premier League fixture.

In caretaker charge of Fulham, Steve Coppell's Royals kept their European adventure dreams alive with a 1-0 win over Sanchez.

The former Northern Ireland boss got his revenge the following season, winning 3-1 at Craven Cottage.

Phil Parkinson

Another playing legend, 'Parky' played over 360 times for the Royals in the 1990s and early 2000s, winning promotion on two ocassions and losing two play-off finals.

Cutting his teeth in management with Colchester United, he earned promotion to the Championship in 2005/06, missing the Royals as they romped to Premier League promotion.

His first visit as a manager was with struggling Charlton Athletic, drawing 2-2 as the Addicks were relegated to League One.

His nextr return was a fantastic ocassion, the FA Cup quarter final against his third tier Bradford City.

After holding the Royals to a 0-0 draw at Valley Parade, Steve Clarke's side eased to a 3-0 win in the replay to set up a Wembley trip to face Arsenal.

Since then he has faced Reading three times, winning once in August 2019 at the SCL Stadium.