We catch up with the last Reading XI to play in the Premier League.
With the Championship play-offs approaching, Reading have an opportunity to return to the Premier League after a four year absence. The Royals’ last top flight game was a 4-2 defeat to West Ham United at the Boleyn Ground on the 19th of May, 2013.
Let’s catch up with Reading’s XI on that day:
Goalkeeper Alex McCarthy has endured a frustrating campaign with Premier League side Southampton. The 23-year-old moved to St Mary’s in the summer following stints playing for Queens Park Rangers and Crystal Palace. McCarthy is yet to make his league debut for the Saints after picking up a hamstring injury in October.
Had McCarthy been fit this season, he may have come up against former teammate Hal Robson-Kanu. The Welshman’s nine-year Royals stay ended in the summer with a free transfer move to Tony Pulis’ West Bromwich Albion. The majority of Robson-Kanu’s appearances for the Baggies have come off the bench, scoring in the victories against Southampton and Arsenal.
Three members of Reading’s back-four now play in the Championship.
Sean Morrison has racked up over 100 appearances for Cardiff City since joining in 2014. The centre-back was named the Bluebirds’ captain at the start of the season following the departure of ‘keeper David Marshall to Hull City. Morrison has only missed two league games all season, scoring goals in the wins over Ipswich Town, Huddersfield Town and Brentford.
Fullback Stephen Kelly looks set for League One after suffering relegation with Rotherham United. The former Republican of Ireland international has only been on the winning side twice during the Millers’ miserable campaign. Kelly, 33, missed the final two months of the season due to an Achilles injury picked up in the defeat to Aston Villa.
Chris Gunter remains a Reading player. He has been ever-present in the league under Jaap Stam, captaining the Royals on 17 occasions. Gunter is joined by winger Gareth McCleary as the only survivors from the West Ham game. McCleary has also featured regularly under Stam.
Two players from this Reading XI to now be plying their trade abroad are Kaspars Gorkss and Pavel Pogrebnyak.
Gorkss has featured for five different sides since his release from the Madejski Stadium in 2014. Following spells with Colchester United, Ergotelis (Greece) and Dukla Prag (Czech Republic), the 35-year-old returned to his native Latvia in the summer. Gorkss now turns out for top tier outfit Riga. On his debut, the centre-back scored the decisive goal in a 1-0 win against his former club Liepaj.
Pogrebnyak’s return to Russian football has been largely frustrating. The forward netted one league goal in two years with Dinamo Moscow. A calf injury kept Pogrebnyak out for much of that time, but he has struggled to reclaim a regular starting place for Dinamo since his return in September.
Jem Karacan and substitute on-the-day Adam Le Fondre are on their way back to the Championship. The ex-Royals helped Phil Parkinson’s Bolton Wanderers side secure an instant return to the second tier with a 2nd place finish in League One. Both men scored in the Trotters’ decisive final day win against Peterborough United.
Danny Guthrie faces a tense final day of the season with relegation-threatened Blackburn Rovers. The central midfielder, who left Reading for Rovers in 2015, has been first-choice at Ewood Park following Tony Mowbray’s arrival in February.
Meanwhile, Jobi McAnuff continues to show his talents in League Two. The former West Ham United and Crystal Palace winger will be hoping to play-off heartbreak – for the fifth time in his career – if his Stevenage side seal a place in the top seven.
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