McDermott maintains auto ambition

Reading manager Brian McDermott has said that he believes Reading could catch West Ham and Southampton at the top of the nPower Championship.

With 18 games still to play, the automatic places are certainly not beyond the Royals. Under Brian McDermott, we have been known to push on towards the end of the season, which saw the Berkshire side earn a play-off spot last season and getting to the final at Wembley.

McDermott told the Reading Chronicle: 'Southampton and West Ham are coming back towards the pack, which is good for everyone involved and for where we want to get to. The table has condensed. We were 17 points behind Southampton at one stage, now it's six points which is a lot better.'

'Look at the squad, in the last 22 games we're top of the league. We took four points from the first 18 available, but we're top of the league since then. We're going in the right direction, The boys are doing really well. We've won eight games from the last 11 and we beat a decent Bristol City side last time out which was important.'

Reading are still high in the form table, picking up a credible four wins in the past six games. Rather surprisingly, former league leaders find themselves quite low in that table, picking up just one win in the last six games.

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