Reading favourite Shane Long admitted that he knew his time with the club was over following the 4-2 defeat to Swansea City in the 2011 Championship play-off final.

36-year-old Long, who made an emotional return to Berkshire in the summer after more than a decade in the Premier League, was the top scorer in 2010/11 with more than 25 goals.

Scoring a brace against Cardiff City in the semi-finals, the club's first trip to the New Wembley ended in heartache against former manager Brendan Rodgers.

Speaking on a podcast co-hosted by his wife, named 'Kay and Ash: Share your Voice', Long delved into his exit to West Brom in 2011.

"It was horrible," he said. "It was a club I loved since I came to England- they brought me through and gave me my chance. After three or four years the likes of Kevin Doyle, Dave Kitson and Leroy Lita had moved on and I got the number nine shirt and my chance to prove myself. Brian McDermott was the manager, who I was good friends with, and he played me every game and really trusted me.

"To go so far- to win the play-off semi-final over two legs against Cardiff and go to the final and give away two penalties. We were so close to winning that game. It was 3-2 and we hit the post and the crossbar. Then another penalty was given away, 4-2, and it was game over.

"At the end of the game, I was in tears because I knew it was the end of my Reading career. I didn’t know what the next step was going to be. Initially, I was just devastated to lose the final and the chance to be the top scorer at Reading and leading them back into the Premier League would have been a fairy-tale. I played the first game of the next season for Reading, so it still wasn’t sorted in August. Two or three weeks before that, West Brom had shown a big interest and I knew they were going to come in for me.

Reading Chronicle:

"Reading were quite understanding, they knew I wanted to play Premier League football. They weren’t going to hold me back, they were getting good money in the transfer and they had promised me halfway through the season that if we weren’t going to go up, they’d give me the opportunity to go up. Even though it was hard to leave, it was probably best for my career."

Since his return, the former Southampton favourite has scored twice- but is now out for the remainder of the season.