Coppell Gutted at Cup Exit

Steve Coppell has revealed his disappointment after the Royals went out of the Carling Cup on penalties.

James Henry scored a brace for the Royals as they twice came from behind to draw 2-2 in normal time at the Britannia Stadium.

Spot-kick misses from Henry and Leroy Lita saw Stoke progress on penalties and Coppell was left bitterly disappointed after a very good Reading display.

He said, 'I'm massively disappointed. I was desperate to win, so were the players and their performance showed that. I wanted to do well and win this competition.

'Just because I made changes doesn't mean I'm treating the competition lightly, It wasn't a lesser side, we had seven full internationals out there and another on the bench.

'It was a stereotypical Stoke performance in that their goals came from corners. For us to battle from that, playing the football we did and making the chances at the end...I thought my team were terrific.'

Coppell also took time out to praise Reading youngster James Henry; 'He has been on the fringe for a couple of years and we've been waiting for him to contribute more.

'Tonight he accepted the responsibility, he took a calm penalty during the game and the second one was a really great strike on his weaker left foot.'

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