Royals well beaten by classy Spurs

Reading boss Steve Coppell could do nothing but admit that his side were well beaten by Tottenham at the Madejski Stadium.

A goal in the opening twenty minutes from Spurs striker and stand in captain Robbie Keane was enough to give Spurs the three points, but it could have been a lot worse for the Royals.

Spurs dominated the game from start to finish and took the lead thanks to some fine work from £16 million pound striker Darren Bent, his run setting up the Irish star for his 23rd goal of the season.

Spurs had many chances to make it two, with Bent coming close, Malbranque having a goal wrongly ruled out for offside and also missing an open goal after some good work from Robbie Keane.

Reading finally managed to test Cerny late on with a fine effort from Dave Kitson but it wasnt enough to get the hosts a point from the game that saw them slip into the relegation zone. In his post match interview, Steve Coppell admitted his side were outclassed and called for one last big effort in their final game of the season, which is away at relegated Derby County.

Coppell said: “Tottenham were unbelievable and we found it almost impossible to contain them. They've massively under-achieved this season in the league, and we struggled to match their quality.

"We've been fully aware all season of the trouble we could be - and now are - in, but there's no point looking back. We know what we've got to do next week now - we have to win.

"We've got the stomach for the fight, no question, but we need to win. We might be lacking in confidence and a bit of belief right now, but we will prepare ourselves for a final day of enormous proportions."

The result leaves Reading in deep trouble at the foot of the table and Spurs looking to grab a vital three points from their last game against Liverpool, a result which could see them leapfrog West Ham and jump into the top half of the table for the first time since the end of August.