There’s an almighty scrap at the top of the Championship to determine who will be playing Premier League football next season, which teams will the likes of West Brom and Stoke City be replacing? The bookmakers still don’t give Fulham much of a chance, despite their heroic comeback at Manchester City last weekend. A victory against fellow-strugglers Birmingham on Saturday would mean that their top flight safety could potentially be in their own hands!

Surely Reading fans are a touch on the concerned side, considering their team’s inability to score, let alone win a game. OK, so they managed a creditable 0-0 draw at Wigan last weekend, although the decision to bring back Leroy Lita from his loan spell at Charlton smacked of desperation, while the Daily Mirror report tension in the camp ahead of Saturday’s game against Spurs. The Royals record signing won’t play for his ’stupid team’ anymore apparently.

“It is not clever at all to suspend your own players, it is stupid,” said the 24-year-old. “The sanction is heavy - two weeks!

“I cannot understand their attitude. I refused to play with the reserves and they said: ‘Okay let us meet on Thursday’.

“But in the meantime I received a letter saying I am axed.

“They are not courageous enough to tell me things in the eyes, man to man, in five minutes.

“I am an adult, I can recognise when I make mistakes. I can also admit to people when I am wrong. The team needs all their players for the last two games.

“For sure my future is not with Reading.”

Not exactly what you need when you’re teetering on the edge of the drop zone, although perhaps this will galvanise the rest of the Reading squad, who face a last-day trip to Derby after the weekend game against Spurs. Bolton are in action at home to Sunderland and will at least have the comfort of the Black Cats having nothing to play for after their 3-2 win over Middlesbrough last weekend.

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