Why I signed Yakubu - Reading boss

 

Reading boss Steve Clarke said Yakubu Aiyegbeni’s winner in the FA Cup on Saturday was exactly why he brought the striker to the club.

The frontman has only played 38 minutes so far in a Reading shirt, but made a bit of history by putting the Royals into the quarter finals for only the fourth time since they were formed in 1871.

It was a superb finish from the 32-year-old, and Steve said on the club’s website, “We knew what we were getting when we signed him, Yak’s a goalscorer and we brought him in for games like that, when it’s open and you know you’re going to create chances towards the end.

“It was a great pass from Hal, who also took his goal very well. You expect Yak to hit the target there, nine times out of 10 he scores and thankfully today was one of the nine.

“The goal was exactly why I put him on. He came on midweek, got a good introduction to the Championship when he took an elbow to the face and broke his nose. But we fixed him up and he still looks gorgeous. It’s not a surprise when he scores in that situation.”

Overall it was a super team display with grit, resilience and also chances created – traits of the Clarke era so far.

He continued, “We’ve had three difficult away games in the cup but each time the fans have gone home happy which is a little bit of joy in a difficult season.

“We’d take anybody next – home or away. We look forward to the draw, but the game is three weeks away, we’ve got five league games before then, first of all Wigan on Tuesday.”

“There’s still work to do in the Championship, we’re seven points off the bottom and we need to secure our position.

“The play-offs look too far, so we’ve given the supporters a run to the quarter final and it would be nice to go further.”