Hunt brothers aim to take Reading straight back up

Reading FC may well have lost the services of Nicky Shorey, Glen Little and Dave Kitson, but the fact that winger Stephen Hunt has remained at the club is a real boost for the Royals' promotion chances.

Not only that, but manager Steve Coppell has added brother Noel to his squad, pairing up the Irish brothers in the same team for the first time in their careers.

Noel, 25, is settling into life at the Madejski Stadium after moving from Dundee United for an undisclosed fee and highlighted Coppell as one of the key reasons in his decision to join the club.

"Obviously, Steve Coppell being here is a big reason and the club - the size of it - and the expectation," said Noel. "The manager and the way he works with the coaches is good, it's great training everyday and they're willing to take you out and do a bit extra with you. With all that coming together, it was the perfect move for me.

"The boys have been great, especially Stephen. He's put me under his wing in training and stuff so it's been good. We're always competitive with each other so it will be great to play together.

"I've been down to see a few games and knew some of the boys, but it's been massive to have him here. It's good to be closer and playing on the same pitch."

Stephen is equally excited about the new season after a long pre-season and is determined to play his part in Reading's push for an immediate return to the Premier League.

He said: "It'll be nice to get the season underway now, it's been a long pre-season. It can get annoying towards the end because you just want to play a competitive game.

"We'll take each game as it comes and look to win the league, it's as simple as that."

Reflecting on events of last season, Stephen believes that the Royals' squad was more than capable enough of surviving the drop.

"Last season we were relegated unfortunately from the Premiership, but we've got a strong squad and are looking to go straight back up," Stephen said. "It's disappointing. Looking at the squad we could have done better but it's a team game and we'll get ourselves together and go on this year.

"We don't want to get too ahead of ourselves but we expect to go back up again. We're going to fight for everything in the league."

Noel's arrival will increase competition for places in the Reading attack and the Ireland B international is relishing the fight for a starting role.

"It's going to be a battle, we've got a lot of good players," he said. "We've got two great strikers and then Shane Long is there as well. We've got wingers who are very, very good so it's going to be hard. But it's good for a team that you have that competitiveness. It'll be interesting to see what happens over the next few months."