Reading Chronicle
Wednesday, 3rd November, 2010
Howard hoping for hoops derby upsetREADING midfielder Brian Howard believes all the pressure will be on Queens Park Rangers in Saturdayâs hoops derby at Loftus Road (3pm ko).
Royals sealed a dramatic 4-3 comeback victory over Doncaster Rovers at the Madejski Stadium on the weekend to move up to sixth in the Championship.
At the same time, Rangers were knocked off the top of the table following a 1-1 home draw to Burnley who had been hammered 4-0 by Reading at Turf Moor the previous week.
As a result, Neil Warnockâs side have not won in four league games now, and Howard believes there will be enormous expectations on them to end that run this weekend and reclaim top spot from Cardiff City.
âItâs going to be a massive test for us,â said the 26-year-old. âQPR donât concede many goals at home and it will be tough for us to get goals there.
Up for it: Brian Howard, pictured here in the background, celebrates with Matt Mills during Reading's 4-3 win against Doncaster Rovers. Royals travel to QPR this weekend.
âBut we will go there in confidence. I donât think QPR have won in four games so theyâll be under pressure.
âThey will be the favourites on the day, so we can go there with nothing to lose and express ourselves. Hopefully, weâll come away with a win.â
There were fears Reading may fall away in the promotion race over recent weeks when it looked like the goals had dried up after back-to-back 1-0 defeats to Brendan Rodgersâ Swansea City and Bristol City.
But Brian McDermottâs men answered their critics by plundering eight goals in the next two games to secure victories against Burnley and now Doncaster.
They now face a big month ahead which starts with battles against three of the top five sides in the division with Cardiff City and Norwich City to follow this weekendâs QPR clash.
âItâs a massive month but we can only look at it one game at a time,â added Howard. âItâs a cliche but itâs the only way we can look at it.
âA couple of games ago weâd lost two in a row and it was all doom and gloom. People were saying we need a striker, we canât score goals, we need this, we need that.
âThen we go and score eight goals in the next two games and suddenly weâre going to win the league.
âYou really do have to just look at the next game. The aim is to be in the top six at the end of the season at the very least and we are on course.â
And he added: âAs long as weâre in the mix around Christmas and January time I really feel, given the fitness of the lads, we can kick on like we did towards the end of last season and push for something.
âThereâs a good squad here and weâre confident we can achieve something this season.
âWeâre not going to shout from the heavens and claim we will do this and do that, weâll just take each game as it comes.â
www.readingchronicle.co.uk/sport/roundup/articles/2010/11/03/49135-howard-hoping-for-hoops-derby-upset/