Coppell throws down goalscoring gauntlet to Long

READING manager Steve Coppell has thrown down the gauntlet to Shane Long ahead of tomorrow’s decisive Championship clash with Birmingham telling the Republic of Ireland striker: “It’s your time to deliver.”

The Royals will seal an immediate return to the Premier League if they beat promotion rivals Birmingham at the Madejski Stadium and Sheffield United fail to beat a Crystal Palace side managed by former Blades boss Neil Warnock at Selhurst Park.

The stakes could hardly be higher because if Reading fail to win they will have to settle for the lottery of the play-offs and a failure there would almost certainly result in star Irish duo Kevin Doyle and Stephen Hunt seeking pastures new.