Coppell fretting over Royal rout

STEVE COPPELL admits Reading’s plunge towards relegation is giving him sleepless nights and that the fans’ vocal criticism of him is hurtful.

This abject defeat was the Royals’ sixth straight Premier League reverse and their fourth game without a goal in all competitions. It left them teetering on the brink of the drop zone and had Derby not scored a late equaliser at Birmingham they would now be in the bottom three.

“Does it give me sleepless nights?” Coppell asked. “Of course it does. I always think of that Bill Shankly quote: ‘Losing is worse than death because you have to live with losing.’

“If you want to sleep you don’t become a football manager. Your mind is always racing. When you are watching a game from the sidelines your mind is racing. Then you go home and can’t wait to get up so you can watch the tape and see how to put things right.

“The booing was hurtful, I must admit. I heard some comments which I didn’t particularly like but I’m the manager.”

Bolton’s fans left Berkshire in good spirits as goals from skipper Kevin Nolan and fit-again striker Heidar Helguson gave Wanderers their first away win in the league for 10 months and made light of Matt Taylor’s first-half penalty miss.

Manager Gary Megson said: “We have got to get to the point where we can stop talking about Nic (Anelka). Yes, he is a fantastic talent and I have told him he has to score against every single team he plays against that is down at the bottom.”

DID YOU KNOW? Reading are the only Premier League team not to have picked up a point in 2008.

READING (4-4-2): Hahnemann 7, Murty 5, Ingimarsson 5, Cisse 5, Shorey 5, Doyle 5, Harper 5 (Sonko 73, 5), Matejovsky 4, Hunt 7, Lita 5 (Long 76, 5), Kitson 6 (Oster 67, 5).

Subs Not Used: Federici, De la Cruz.

BOLTON (4-4-2): Jaaskelainen 7, Steinsson 7, A O’Brien 6, Cahill 8, Gardner 6, Guthrie 6 (Cohen 75, 5), Nolan 7, Campo 6, Taylor 6 (Samuel 67, 6), Helguson 7 (Diouf 67, 5), Davies 7.

Subs Not Used: Al Habsi, Rasiak.

REFEREE: Phil Dowd (Staffordshire) 7: Little choice with the penalty and got the major decisions right. His linesmen were also impressive.

MATCH RATING: *** An impressive and precious win for Bolton, who continue to improve under Gary Megson. Reading are sinking fast.