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The Royals boss will tomorrow night thrust the youngster into the first team for the game against Cardiff City. With Marcus Hahnemann facing as long as a month on the sidelines, the former Arsenal loanee has been handed the chance to resurrect his Reading career.
First choice Hahnemann limped out of Reading's game against Stoke on Saturday with a medial ligament injury. Whilst 18-year-old England under 19 international Jamie Young impressed when coming on as a replacement he is likely to find himself warming the bench once more tomorrow night.
The opportunity is a fantastic one for Ashdown who has in the past spoken of leaving the club at the end of the campaign, but Coppell will know there is a very real chance that his side could drop points without their first choice 'keeper.
Physio Jon Fearn reckons that as Hahnemann will not need surgery he could potentially be ready for action in two weeks time, and able to take the field for the club' titanic tussle with West Ham at the Madejski Stadium on April 3rd.
However, Fearn warned that the American could face a longer spell on the sidelines if his knee does not respond to treatment.
"If it doesn't improve they he may need an artoroscopy but there is every indication that he will heal in between two and four weeks," he said, speaking to the official site.
But in Ashdown Reading should have a more than able replacement. Although he has hardly featured for the Madejski Stadium side he impressed on loan at Rushden, where he played nineteen times and won the club's Player of the Month award for December and January.