Published: Thursday, 23rd April, 2009 3:00pm

Hahnemann set for personal milestone

by Anthony Smith

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MARCUS Hahnemann is set to make his 300th appearance for Reading in Monday's crucial game at Norwich City (live Sky Sports, 7.45pm ko).

If Birmingham lose to Preston this weekend, the Royals will go to Carrow Road knowing they must win to keep alive their faint hopes of automatic promotion.

And for Hahnemann, the importance of the fixture pushes his own personal achievement into the background, at least for now.

"I will try not to look at other teams' results," said the 36-year-old USA stopper. "I know that if Birmingham lose to Preston on Saturday and we beat Norwich we still have a chance of going up automatically, although we know it's unlikely.

"But Norwich are fighting for their lives and it won't be an easy game for us. Saying that, we need to get back into that winning habit so that we go into the play-offs in good form if that's where we end up."

Like every Royals fan, Hahnemann (pictured right) was left scratching his head by the team's alarming dip in form over recent months.

But Steve Coppell's side looked every bit like promotion contenders again on Tuesday night as they cruised to a 2-0 victory at Derby County thanks to a vastly-improved performance.

Hahnemann had a relatively quiet night until the closing stages when he was tested to the full by Kris Commons no less than three times.

"I was glad I could do a little bit to help the team but we haven't played that well in a long time," he explained. "Our attitude was great, we passed it around really well and everyone had a good game.

"Maybe people were a bit down after our recent run and realised that if things didn't change we could have dropped out of the play-offs.

"Now it's crucial that we play well at Norwich so that we stay in the right frame of mind for whatever lies ahead of us.

"If we play like we did on Tuesday we won't be scared of anyone because there is no better team in the Championship.

"Wolves will ultimately win the title and we beat them twice and we've already won at Birmingham. Our problem has been a lack of consistency."

Hahnemann routinely gives his shirt away to a Reading fan after every match. But the shirt he wears on Monday will be for keeps.

He said: "I have my shirt from my 100th game hanging on my bedroom wall. My dad has my 200th one, but I haven't even thought about this one.

"To be honest, I can't really believe that I've reached that number, especially after such a slow start.

"I remember when I made it to 100 appearances because it took me quite a long time to get there.

"After a few years with Fulham I had only managed to play about 10 games and they came from my loan spells with Rotherham and Reading.

"So when I got to 100 I really thought I had made it as a footballer. Now, to make 300 and nearly all of those with Reading really is unbelievable."

Boss Steve Coppell still has major fitness concerns over strikers Noel Hunt and Kevin Doyle as well as midfielder James Harper and left-back Chris Armstrong.

For the second game in a row, Reading may now be forced to travel with only two fit strikers in Dave Kitson and Shane Long, as Leroy Lita is out for the season following an operation to have ankle pins removed.

The Royals could recall Dave Mooney from his loan with Norwich City but that is unlikely. The Irishman cannot play on Monday as part of the deal.

ROYALS reserves were forced to put their Totesport.com Combination League title celebrations on hold following a 3-1 defeat to Southampton at the Madejski Stadium.

Abdulai Baggie scored for the Royals who can finish off the job next Tuesday if they win at Millwall.

Sam Sodje is set to extend his loan with Leeds United until the end of the season.