READING take on Crystal Palace tonight looking to secure a spot in the semi-final of the FA Cup and another trip to Wembley for the second successive season.
A sell out crowd is expected at Madejski Stadium as the Royals look to claim another Premier League scalp in this year’s competition, having disposed of West Bromwich Albion in the previous round.
Under then boss Steve Clarke, the side tore up the club’s history books in 2014/15 when marching all the way to the last four, doing so for the first time in some 88 years.
Reading went down to a cruel 2-1 extra-time defeat to eventual winners Arsenal on that occasion – but back they came and now once again stand within earshot of making another trip to the capital.
And while cup fever has hit the town once more, Brian McDermott’s message to his players is simple.
The manager said: “We want to put on a really good performance and enjoy the occasion, which is really important – perform and then see what the outcome is.
“What it would mean to the club and to the players and owners, it would be fantastic to be able to get to walk out at Wembley and that is what it is all about.
“This cup means an awful lot to this football club.
“Last season Steve (Clarke) brought the team to the semi-final, where they were unfortunate against Arsenal. It means an awful lot – to the fans, to the players and owners.”
Palace started the season on fire, but will arrive in town having not won in the league since December.
Yet they have seen off both Southampton and Tottenham Hotspur in the cup, so McDermott is aware of the task facing his Championship side.
“We need to play well,” he added.
“We need to play at the top of our game, but for me it is about the performance. I want us to play as top class as we can and everybody to play at the top of their game, and if we can do that, we have an opportunity.
“We have done our homework and I have seen them play. We will do what we have to do and concentrate on ourselves and our performance.”
The Palace manager, meanwhile, needs no introduction to Reading fans.
Alan Pardew took the club up to the old Division 1 (now Championship) back in 2002 before leaving under a cloud a year later to take over at West Ham United.
He is almost guaranteed a hostile reception, yet he is responsible for bringing in the man who now presides over the Royals.
This is because a chance meeting between McDermott and Pardew at a Brentford Reserves’ match in 2000 led to the former being brought in as Under-17s coach and chief scout not long after.
McDermott appreciates he probably would not have enjoyed successes such as winning the Championship title with Royals back in 2012 – let alone ever have been at the club had it not been for that moment at Griffin Park.
The pair remain good friends, and although leaving acrimoniously all those years ago, the current Reading boss was keen to remind folk of what Pardew achieved while in the hot-seat.
“He started something at Reading which was very, very special,” said McDermott.
“That was carried on by Steve Coppell as well, so these guys have been very, very important in where we are today.”
