Reading to ruin Keane's day
Reading striker Shane Long hopes to ruin Roy Keane's afternoon with a goal - and then ask him for an autograph.
The Republic of Ireland international is expecting to be deluged with requests from pals back home for a souvenir of the Sunderland boss' visit to the Madejski Stadium tomorrow.
But while Long was determined not to give Keane and Co anything on the pitch he was hopeful the former Manchester United man would be approachable off it.
He said: "I'm sure I will have a few messages from my pals asking if I can get his signature or something. Afterwards, if I see him around, I would love to shake his hand but first I want to score a goal and hopefully take three points off him."
The afternoon will have a decidedly Hibernian flavour as both sides have plenty of Irishmen to call upon.
Reading boss Steve Coppell regards Kevin Doyle and Stephen Hunt as first choices while Keane usually has six fellow countrymen in his squad.
And Long revealed that whenever they met up for international duty the conversation inevitably turned to the Sunderland gaffer and his fearsome reputation.
He said: "I know Paul McShane, Darryl Murphy and Anthony Stokes and Roy O'Donovan was at Cork when I was there.
"The main question I ask them is 'can he still do it?' and they all say he can. He joins in in training sometimes and takes the mick.
"They are probably afraid to tackle him though. He is still young enough to do a job on the pitch but hopefully he won't feel he has to against us."
But Keane was not the only former Manchester United man who can still impress his players on the training ground as Coppell occasionally showed why he won 42 England caps a couple of decades ago.
Long said: "He always wears these Doc Marten boots. The ball would come to him, he would do a few touches and you would think 'ah, he's still got it'. It was interesting to see."
Sunderland, who are one place above the drop zone, have yet to win away this season while Reading's more healthy position of 13th has been achieved almost entirely through points picked up at home.
Reading have nonetheless gone three games unbeaten and Long was keen to keep the run going ahead of trips to West Ham and then Tottenham before 2008 begins with a home fixture with Portsmouth.
He said: "Last season was amazing. We started off aiming for survival so to finish eighth like we did was a bit surreal. But this season didn't go to plan at the start but we are getting back into the rhythm and slowly moving up the table to where we want to be.
"Our home form has been good so we are definitely looking to keep that going."
Meanwhile, Reading have extended the contract of highly-rated defender Alex Pearce.
The 19-year-old, who is currently on loan at Bournemouth in League One, is now tied to the club until 2010.
Sunderland is desperate to make a surge
Sunderland boss Roy Keane has warned the Barclays Premier League hopefuls the gap between them and the big boys is growing all the time.
The 37-year-old Irishman takes his reigning Coca-Cola League champions to immediate predecessors Reading tomorrow far from surprised that both clubs are involved in the developing scrap for top-flight survival as the season reaches its halfway point.
Keane's men dragged themselves back into the big time with a blistering second half in last season's Coca-Cola Championship to join the Royals, who had established a new record of 106 points 12 months earlier.
But while Steve Coppell's side made more than a fist of it in the Premier League first time around, when they finished in a hugely creditable eighth place, they are finding life a little more difficult at the second time of asking.
Keane, however, is not at all shocked that the two clubs, as well as new boys Birmingham and Derby, are having to scrap for precious points, and has warned the latest crop of promotion hopefuls that life on the big stage will only get tougher as time goes on.
He said: "It is no doubt the toughest league in the world, so any teams that do come up, no matter how well they have done in the Championship, I do believe the gap between the Championship and the Premier League is just getting wider and wider.
"I don't care who comes up next season, it is going to be very, very tough, as we are finding to our cost.
"Clearly for any team over the next few years - and for the last few years - that comes up from the Championship, it is going to be tough because of maybe the lack of depth in your squad or the lack of experience you have.
"We have found that to our cost - and on top of that, we have had injuries to three or four important players for us, and we have not been able to cope."
Sunderland, who beat Reading 2-1 at the Stadium of Light on September 15, climbed out of the relegation zone with last weekend's 1-1 home draw with Aston Villa, although just how important the two points which slipped away when referee Steve Bennett ruled out Danny Collins' injury-time "winner" will prove come the end of the season remains to be seen.
Keane has refused to countenance the word "survival" from day one, and while he admits things have been perhaps even tougher than he expected, he remains confident his side has what it takes to consolidate.
He said: "I see it as a tough few months coming up for us, but I am not going to use that word.
"Yes, it is going to be a tough few months, but we thought it would be. We did not think for one minute we would be flying high.
"We knew it was going to be tough and that's the way it is panning out.
"But I do believe as the games come thick and fast - we hope to get one or two players back and if we can add one or two in January - we will get stronger as the season goes on.
"We have got a lot of big home games coming up in the New Year, and they might shape our season."
Keane is understood to have as much as £20million at his disposal during the January transfer window, although he insists he will not be pressured into investing it unwisely.
However, suggestions that Chelsea might be ready to offer him £10million for striker Kenwyne Jones met with little encouragement.
He said: "Ten million? That's nice. For one of my players?
"Kenwyne's going nowhere."
