Royals hitman Long determined to repay McDermott’s faith

READING striker Shane Long wants to repay manager Brian McDermott’s faith by shooting his team into the Barclays Premier League in today’s npower Championship final against Swansea.

The Royals head into the match as the division’s form team and fresh from an impressive 3-0 aggregate semi-final triumph over Cardiff.

Long netted twice in the victory over the Bluebirds to increase his goal haul for the season to 25, which has unsurprisingly seen him become one of the hottest properties outside the top flight.