All eyes will no doubt be on the bench at around the 60-minute mark in tomorrow’s six-pointer against Wigan Athletic.

The focus – Adam Le Fondre.

Reading’s super-sub will most probably find himself back on the bench for the relegation battle, but manager Brian McDermott knows he has a special weapon to bring on late in the game.

He explained: “You can sense the atmosphere. It kind of builds up and then you get Alfie on the pitch.

“What was really important for me was that he played in the game the other night (against his boyhood club Manchester United).

“He was the first name on the team sheet and then there were 10 others.

“What he has done for us has been fantastic.

“I knew what it meant to him playing that game and I thought he did really well.”

McDermott is sticking to his guns as Reading have just 12 games left to save their Premier League status.

With key games to follow at home to Aston Villa, Southampton and Queens Park Rangers, the Royals boss refuses to look too far into the future.

He said: “That would mean I would change the philosophy of the last three years.

“What I have done is always concentrate on the next game.

“When I was with Steve Coppell for five years previously what I did was concentrate on the next game.

“When Alan Pardew was here we did it, with Steve we had blocks of six for certain times too, but for me, I just concentrate on the next game.”

With Wigan somehow managing to fight off relegation every season, McDermott is also hoping that if they do that, then it won’t be at the expense of Reading.

He added: “Every season is different and Roberto has pulled off the miracle so many times.

“They know what they are doing and so does he.

“Whether it will be an advantage, time will only tell.

“Similar to us last season, we had to keep winning to win the Championship.

“We won’t change what we did last year to now, it’s all the same.”

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