McDermott plays down play-off talk

Brian McDermott: The Reading boss is refusing to get carried away

Reading manager Brian McDermott refused to speculate about the Championship play-offs places after a 3-0 defeat of Brighton, while Gus Poyet refused to complain about his side's injury and suspension problems.

Jobi McAnuff scored in the 17th and 45th minutes to give his side a comfortable two-goal cushion, before Brighton defender Adam El-Abd diverted the ball into his own net in the closing seconds.

Results on the day were enough to see the Royals into sixth place in the standings, but with several sides bunched together in the top half of the table, McDermott is not yet setting end-of-season targets.

"April next year is a long way away, " he said. "It's too far way to even think about. What this win does is set us up for the next game against Ipswich, but no more than that.

"I know we had injuries and suspensions, but as a manager I don't cry. We had good players on the pitch."
Gus Poyet Quotes of the week

"It took us a long time to get going last season and this year we had to rebuild after losing Shane Long and Matt Mills in the summer.

Excellent

"What we have got now is a good squad and that's what I keep emphasising, the importance of the squad."

McDermott also revealed afterwards that man-of-the-match McAnuff had almost missed out but praised the player's desire to turn out.

"He got a knock right at the end of training on Friday, but like the captain he is he decided to play and he was excellent," said the manager.

Poyet's side have now lost their last three and the Uruguayan felt his patched-up side should have had a penalty after Andy Griffin appeared to push over Craig Mackail-Smith.

"I don't think it was a penalty. I know it was a penalty and if we score then at 2-1 it changes the game," he continued.

"I know we had injuries and suspensions, but as a manager I don't cry. We had good players on the pitch."