Reading rise to the occasion

PICTURE: ACTION IMAGES

After a four-year absence, Reading are back in the big time.

A narrow 1-0 victory over Nottingham Forest, courtesy of a late Mikele Leigertwood winner, sealed promotion for Brian McDermott's team, an extraordinary achievement given their wretched start to the campaign.

It's a richly deserved reward for McDermott, one of football's more modest managers. Now 51, this is his first managerial role in league football.

McDermott may have described last May's play-off final defeat by Swansea as his worst moment in football, but this promotion should more than make up for it.