Bikey makes case for the defence

READING’S defenders can sleep again. Marcus Hahnemann, the club’s colourful American goalkeeper, has been alarmed at his team’s slide towards the bottom three this season and has not been shy in venting his frustration at his team-mates.

However, centre-back Andre Bikey made amends for his error that cost Reading a point against Liverpool last weekend by scoring twice against Birmingham.

The win lifts Reading five points clear from the drop zone while also serving to put Hahnemann’s nerves at ease, albeit temporality.

“Winning allows your spirits to be raised a little and it relaxes you a bit,” he said. You want to try and play as much as you can, but when you’re down there your butt cheeks are clenched so tight. Having that little gap allows everyone just to relax a little bit. When a guy makes a mistake you don’t have to rip his head off.

“When things aren’t going so well everyone is on edge and you yell at someone and they think you are having a go at them. They then start having a go at you but you don’t really accomplish anything.

“We have come through all the bad times and we definitely have a lot of confidence. I think we are back to where we want to be.

“It would have been really easy just to throw in the towel and call it quits in the middle of that poor run of results, but we didn’t.”

Reading deserved their three points and were unlucky not to have made it a more comfortable afternoon for themselves.

Stephen Hunt went close on two occasions before Bikey scored his first goal in the 31st minute. Fabrice Muamba was penalised for his high tackle on Hunt and John Oster’s looping free-kick was perfect for Bikey, who headed past Maik Taylor.

Mauro Zarate pulled a goal back for Birmingham when he poked in from close range for his first goal for the club but Bikey restored Reading’s advantage 11 minutes from full-time when headed in from Nicky Shorey’s free-kick after Liam Ridgewell had fouled substitute, Shane Long.

Birmingham captain Ridgewell claims his team will be hurting from this defeat but vowed that it would not dent their confidence.

“This defeat is going to hurt everybody but we have got to crack on and take that performance, as it was a good performance, into the rest of the games in this season” he said.

“We pride ourselves on clearing the ball and stopping it going into the net. We have got a good goal difference, probably one of the best in the bottom-half of the table, so it is disappointing as a defender to lose two goals from free-kicks. We have just got to keep dragging those teams who think they are safe back into it. Knowing what it has been like this season, no team down there is safe.

“I think they will still be looking over their shoulders. If we can get a couple of results it is all back on.”

It is a view shared by Ridgewell’s manager, Alex McLeish, who is confident his team will escape relegation, despite sitting precariously above the bottom three.

He added: “I’m delighted we are we are in the scrap. The one thing that you are fearful of is that you will be cut adrift.

“I don’t think we’ve punched above our weight too much but we’ve certainly not punched below it.”

READING (4-4-2): Hahnemann 6, Rosenior 5, Bikey 8, Ingimarsson 6, Shorey 6, Hunt 5, Matejovsky 5 (Cisse 81, 6), Harper 6, Oster 5 (Long 76, 7), Kitson 6, Doyle 7.

Subs Not Used: Federici, Sonko, Kebe.

BIRMINGHAM (4-5-1): Taylor 6, Kelly 6, Jaidi 4, Ridgewell 5, Murphy 5, Larsson 6, Muamba 5, Zarate 6, Nafti 6 McSheffrey 5 (O’Connor 66, 5), Forssell 6 (Jerome 80, 5).

Subs Not Used: Doyle, Parnaby, Johnson.

REFEREE: Mike Riley (Yorkshire) 7: The heavily-criticised referee had a controversy-free afternoon. He kept the game flowing and there were no doubts about the set-pieces which lead to Reading’s goals.

MATCH RATING: ** A match that will not live long in the memories for those spectators who had the misfortune to witness it. Both sides struggled to string passes together and were guilty of wasting chances.