Coppell makes Reading pledge

Reading FC manager Steve Coppell has agreed a new two-year deal with the Premiership club, whose striker Dave Kitson has also put pen to paper on a three-year contract extension.

Premiership baptism
Coppell took over at the Madejski Stadium in October 2003 and guided the south-east club to promotion to the English top flight for the first time in their history in 2005/06. Reading have maintained that momentum this season, sitting eighth in the Premiership with eight matches to play. The 51-year-old's existing terms were due to expire in the summer, but despite his usual policy of signing one-year contracts, Coppell has been persuaded to accept a longer deal.

'Ongoing commitment'
"For the club to have faith in me is pleasing, now I want to repay that faith by doing my job to the best of my ability," the manager explained. "I've spent a lot of time here and in many ways it would have been easy to leave because of what we've done - it would all reflect well. But I wanted to make a commitment, a statement our work is ongoing. There's still progress to be made. With the stadium expansion we'll get bigger crowds, bigger income and therefore better players. That's the only way to compete. We're blessed with some terrific players and we want to use that as a springboard for future success."

Kitson delight
The 27-year-old Kitson, meanwhile, struck Reading's first top-flight goal in the 3-2 win against Middlesbrough FC on the opening day of the campaign, but then spent six months on the sidelines having suffered a serious knee injury in the same game. He was the club's leading scorer in both 2004/05 and 2005/06, and having recently returned to action has been rewarded with a new contract running until the summer of 2010.