Reading FC News Bites - 10th October

Akpan relishing Nigeria opportunity - Reading Official Site

Hope Akpan says his call up out of the blue to the Nigerian national team was great news, and both his parents, who are Nigerian and give him eligibility, will be there watching him hopefully make his debut in the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers. He says he is excited about playing international football but as soon as he is back his focus will be on the Derby game.

McDermott back in football - Reading Post

After taking Reading to the Premier League, getting sacked, and then getting sacked again by Leeds, Brian McDermott has returned to being a scout - Arsenal have given him this role on a 3 year contract. 


McCleary signs new 3 year deal - Reading Official site

Exciting winger Garath McCleary has extended his contact at the club until the summer of 2017. He said he wanted to sign a new contract at the end of last season but the financial uncertainty prevented this. He explains the staff, players and fans were all reasons why he wants to stay at the club, but most important was the fact his family are settled. McCleary is currently recovering from his fractured vertebrae injury that he was playing with in the closing months of last season, but explains that although he is a long way from being fit he is no longer feeling pain. However, when he's back he says his sights are firmly set on getting Reading back to the Premier league. 

September player of the month - Reading Official Site
Ollie Norwood picked up this award after putting in a decent run of performances and impressing fans with his range of passing since he arrived from Huddersfield in the summer. Fans voted Simon Cox second and Glenn Murray third. Those results match the same top three as the Tilehurst End's own POTM vote, which you can find details of here. 

Adkins again highlights poor defending - Reading Chronicle

"We put ourselves in a situation we shouldn’t have done with two awful goals" are words from Adkins which sum up nicely why we came away with nothing from Brentford. Stopping crossing into the box and defending then when they come is what he dubs "the top and bottom" of not giving goals away. He says stopping easy balls into the box is something we have not been doing all season and this needs urgent work at training. 

Kuhl wants to learn from his error at Brentford - Reading Post

Young midfielder Aaron Kuhl have the ball away cheaply inside his own half against Brentford, allowing a move to start that created Brentford's second goal. Kuhl accepts that this was a costly error, but also describes it as a "massive learning curve". He says he'll watch it back, learn from it and ask other players for advice to learn what to do in those kind if situations. Kuhl continues to give his opinion that all three of Brentford's goals were sloppy and due to "people not taking enough care". However, he says getting out of this habit of giving poor goals away will see the team move up the table quickly.

Cox's take on Brentford result - Reading Official Site 

Simon Cox says the result at Brentford was very frustrating, mainly because Brentford is the kind of place we should be going to and winning. Mistakes and poor defending let Brentford get ahead, but Cox says the young players perhaps responsible for these errors deserved their place in the side and will learn from it. However, the striker says the team met their ambition of getting the next goal early in the second half, but Brentford grabbing their third was a "sucker punch". He also explains that he is pleased with how he has performed since rejoining the club, and is looking forward to playing with Garath McCleary when the winger returns as this will give the side a "little bit extra".

Injury update - Reading Official Site

A small ankle injury kept Hope Akpan out of the side against Brentford, but Nigel Adkins says this will have recovered in a few days so he will definitely be available after the international break. Danny Guthrie on the other hand has suffered yet another injury, this time his hamstring, but again Adkins suggests it won't be long until he's back either so he should return to the squad after the international break. Adkins also talks about the photo Danny Williams posted on Instagram of himself as he increased his training levels following knee surgery. The boss explains that although he has his boots back on and is running, he's a long way off a return.


Gunter doesn't think we need to worry - Reading Post
We're 5 games without a win, but Chris Gunter says you can spin stats and figures in any way you want, and with games so close together you can turn things around in no time. He says we have to look at why we are making mistakes in defence and get back to positive results after the international break. 

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