Coppell: Europe is not a goal

Steve Coppell has reiterated that European qualification is not on his clubs to-do list.

The Reading boss is insistent that although qualification is manageable with only 8 games left to play, it is not a target for his Royals:

'There are hundreds and hundreds of ifs that have to be satisfied before we can compete at European level,' he said.

'For us at the moment, maintaining our status this year was the number one priority and maintaining it again will be our number one priority next season.

'Anything else beyond that will be a massive, massive bonus, but I've said before that Europe is not on my particular radar."

Reading sit at eighth in the table, and should Man Utd end up facing Chelsea in the FA Cup final, Reading may only need to finish seventh to claim a spot in a European competition.

And despite Steve Sidwell proclaiming his European desires and his subtle ultimatum to the club of 'Europe or I go`, Steve Coppell does not appear to be putting qualification on the top of his list.

Coppell maintains that he will not gamble with the clubs Premiership status for a European tour, the boss continued:

"We have to prove to ourselves we are not a one-season wonder. We want to make ourselves a reputable Premiership club."

'We'll finish as high as we can and the consequences of that will be well known at the end of the season.

'I said at the beginning of the season that staying in the Premiership wouldn't be as spectacular, but for us to maintain our status would be a bigger achievement than winning promotion last year.

'Last year, it was fantastic to have that dream-like season, and the dream has continued again.'

Let`s take a leaf out of sensible Steve`s book and take it one step at a time…

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