Reading Football Club News

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

• Ground:Madejski Stadium
• Capacity:24,200

Hunt targets swift return

19 May 2008 - 13:14:46

Click To Enlarge

Midfielder Stephen Hunt has backed Reading to secure an immediate return to the Premier League.

The Royals lost their top-flight status on the final day of the season despite thrashing Derby County 4-0 at Pride Park.

But despite being disappointed to be facing a season of Championship football, the Republic of Ireland international believes a swift return to the top division could be on the cards.

"It's obviously a massive disappointment and the first thing I wanted to do was to get back to Ireland," he told the club's official website.

"I haven't had much time to focus on it with the Ireland games coming up. It's just all so frustrating.

"Maybe being in the Championship gives us a chance to get a winning mentality back. We just have to get on with it. There's nothing we can do about it now.

"The Championship is a tough league and it won't be easy to bounce straight back, but we should feel confident that we have the ability to do that.

"Hopefully once we get back for pre-season we'll be headed in the right direction and things will look much better for us."