Reading duo could avoid punishment

Reading duo Stephen Hunt and Ibrahima Sonko are almost certain to escape punishment from the Football Association after their controversial challenges left Chelsea goalkeepers Petr Cech and Carlo Cudicini in hospital.

Cech was hurt in a first-minute clash with Hunt at the Madejski Stadium on Saturday and has since undergone surgery for a depressed fracture of the skull at the Radcliffe Infirmary’s specialist neuro-surgical unit in Oxford.