By Steve McManaman, Setanta Sports

Everyone goes on about 'second season syndrome' and the effect that it might be having on a club of Reading's size and stature.

Reading were brilliant last year and a lot of credit should go to Steve Coppell and his players, for the way and the speed with which they adapted to the Premier League in their first season.

Steve is a brilliant manager and you have to respect all he has done with the club.

At the start of this season, I looked at the teams involved in the top flight and I never thought Reading would be involved in a relegation dogfight.

To be honest, I still don't.

In the bottom half of the table, about seven clubs are only separated by one win at the moment - it's so tight down there. And Reading are very strong at home - I think that strength will be a big factor this season.

The togetherness of the squad and the atmosphere at Madejski Stadium, it all helped make games here a very tough prospect for teams last year.

They always caused problems, always created chances, always defended strongly and worked so hard to put teams under pressure. And unlike some teams down at the bottom, who can't buy a goal at the moment, Reading will score goals.

They have good strikers and Kevin Doyle and Dave Kitson have formed a great partnership.

This article originally appeared in the programme for our Liverpool game.