Jobi McAnuff is confident Reading can bounce back into the top flight at the first time of asking from the Championship. "It has been overwhelmingly disappointing," McAnuff said. "We feel we should have got a better points haul than we have done.

"Of course, the goal was to stay up and we have not achieved that so ultimately it is very disappointing.

"I think you can see in our performances that progress has been made (under Nigel Adkins). From our point of view, I think it is a positive that we have had that time to work with him before the start of next year when we can hit the deck running.

"He has had time to feel us out and vice-versa. He knows what he is going to need over the summer and what we are capable of so I think that will help us going into next season.

"We've got players that know how to get out of the league and that the Championship is as much about the mental side as the physical.

"We know what the demands are going to be and feel we will have a fighting chance next year, especially with the time we have had under the new gaffer."