Reading Football Club News

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

• Ground:Madejski Stadium
• Capacity:24,200

Marcus has Reading faith

12 Feb 2008 - 16:52:49

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Reading goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann believes there is enough quality in the squad to keep the club in the Premier League.

The Royals slipped further into the relegation mire after losing for the seventh consecutive time last weekend.

Saturday's 1-0 defeat at the hands of Everton left Steve Coppell's side languishing in 18th place in the league table and without a win since a 2-1 success over Sunderland on December 22.

However, despite claims the Royals could be heading for a return to the Championship, experienced keeper Hahnemann believes they will successfully stave off the threat of relegation.

"The squad we have now, with a few exceptions, finished eighth last season. So obviously we have enough within it to be okay," he told the club's official website.

"Being in the relegation zone won't change the way we do things one little bit.

"Okay, we haven't had the best results lately, but the performance at Everton was great.

"We knew that going to Goodison would be tough because Everton are a very good team.

"But we also knew that when we play well, opposition teams have to worry about us - and we proved that at Everton, we just didn't have quite enough.

"If we had played every game like we played at Everton, we wouldn't be in this position, that's the bottom line.

"Now we'll have some extra pressure on us and we'll find out who has got the balls to handle it. It's as simple as that.

"I don't think it will go to the last day of the season. I definitely think it will be sorted before then."