Doyle using the Blues as motivation

KEVIN DOYLE reckons the pain of having to watch Birmingham celebrate a promotion that could have been theirs can spur Reading on to play-off glory.

The Royals had a chance to go up automatically last week when Sheffield United, the other contenders, ended up falling short. But they lost 2-1 to the Blues and instead had to watch Alex McLeish’s men pop open the champagne.

Now a play-off double header with Burnley awaits them, with the first leg kicking off at Turf Moor this evening (5.20pm).