Coppell happy with deadline day

Reading FC manager Steve Coppell is a happy man after Monday’s transfer deadline with two of his stars staying at the club.

“‘I read on Sky we were supposed to have turned down a £3.5million bid for Stephen Hunt but that was not the case,” he said.

“‘I spoke with David Moyes, I think it was Sunday, and he was just making a call regarding a number of players and asking the situation. I explained the situation and never heard from him again.”

There had also been speculation about Kev-in Doyle’s future following his hat-trick against Crystal Palace in Saturday’s 4-2 win.

But Coppell confirmed: ‘‘We had no positive calls about Kevin. As always there are agents trying to spark things but from club to club there was no business.

“Nobody has phoned this club and offered money for Kevin.”

The club were ready for any departures however. “We were on standby,” said Coppell. We had a couple of deals lined up in case we lost a player. I’m not stupid, I knew some clubs would make panic buys. If we lost key players, we had ones we could bring in.”

Coppell was very pleased with the contribution of his three debutants in Saturday’s win, Chris Armstrong, Jem Karacan and Alex Pearce.

Armstrong signed last week from Sheffield United and Steve said, “Chris had a whirlwind week getting in and out of planes and cars.”

“He did well to last the full 90 minutes in a hot day, and he can have a good rest now.”