Reading Football Club News

• Nickname:Royals
• Founded:1871
• Manager:Brian McDermott

• Ground:Madejski Stadium
• Capacity:24,200

Coppell hails vital victory

02 Mar 2008 - 12:19:45

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Reading manager Steve Coppell hopes Saturday's last-gasp win at Middlesbrough will provide the psychological boost needed to move out of the drop-zone.

James Harper's dramatic last-minute winner secured a 1-0 success at the Riverside Stadium as the 18th-placed Royals moved to within one point of safety.

Harper's late strike also ended an eight-match losing sequence for the free-falling Berkshire club and Coppell was delighted after the game.

He said: "It was a great result for us. Having not won away from home all season we had to approach the game in a certain manner and our game-plan went reasonably well.

"We were mindful of the 120 minutes Middlesbrough had played in midweek and we knew it was going to be factor in the last ten to 15 minutes and that proved to be the case.

''A clean sheet would have been significant and to get all three points was a massive, massive boost.

"Psychologically I hope it's going to have a real long-term effect.''