Post match reaction to Reading's defeat at Middlesborough

Last updated : 27 February 2007 By Angus Muller

Middlesbrough boss Gareth Southgate challenged his players to push for the Barclays Premiership top six after seeing them dent Reading's hopes of European qualification.

Superb finishes from Mark Viduka and Ayegbeni Yakubu in either half left substitute John Oster's late strike to count for nothing as Boro edged towards the top half of the table.

It was the Royals' first defeat in nine games and gave the Teessiders the psychological advantage for a potential FA Cup quarter-final showdown between the two sides as they prepare for fifth round replays in midweek.

Southgate, whose side head for West Brom on Tuesday night, was delighted with the win over the side lying sixth in the table and urged his players to mount a charge towards the end of the season.

He said: "Ironically, getting results against the top six has not been the problem for us.

"But, since the turn of the year, we have addressed that a bit. We have beaten the likes of Sheffield United and Charlton and they have been key results for us.

"We have got to keep that belief going. We have 35 points and we have 10 games to go and we have got to reach as high as we possibly can.

"We can still have an exciting finish to the season. I know the players want to do that and, on Tuesday night, we will have a real go at West Brom."

Boro were in control for much of the first half, but had only Viduka's audacious seventh-minute back-heeled effort to show for their efforts.

Leroy Lita wasted a glorious opportunity to level for the visitors and Yakubu took full advantage with his side's second goal in the 69th minute.

Viduka was virtually unplayable and Southgate reiterated his desire to hang on to him beyond the terms of his current contract, which expires at the end of the season.

He said: "We have made it clear to him we would like him to stay and we are in the process of opening talks with him.

"The biggest thing for him is that he is enjoying his football at the moment and he wants to continue to do that."

Reading boss Steve Coppell felt his side had not been at their best before the break, but was pleased with the way they responded to his half-time instructions.

He said: "It was not a plan to leave it late to get into gear. You can only play as well as you are allowed to.

"The first half was really disjointed for both sides, but they scored so you have a different perception of the 45 minutes after that.

"In the second half, we played terrifically well. We had some great opportunities - possibly more than them - but the more we pushed forward, the more we left ourselves a little bit bare at the back.

"But I am pleased by our performance and I am pleased by the way we continued to drive forward."

However, Coppell, whose side entertain Manchester United in their cup replay on Tuesday night, was philosophical about the defeat and its effect on his side's European hopes.

He said: "People keep saying that to me as if somebody has died. Before today, we still had 11 games to go. Now we have got 10 games to go.

"It is over a quarter of the season and we have still got to earn our spurs and push on because, if we listen to everyone, we will just stop dead."

It was Coppell who handed Southgate his debut during his time as Crystal Palace boss and he is tipping his opposite number to make a success of this new career.

"He has got as bright a future as he wants in the game," Coppell said.

"He is obviously a thinker about the game.

"He puts it in perspective, is probably the best way of saying it, when we can all be accused of putting football on the wrong pedestal."