"He has been superb. He keeps on heading the ball in and before I brought him here I didn't think he could head it at all.

(Om kampen): "But we played ever so well today and got at Reading straight away. I thought it was going to be a difficult game because things seem to happen so often against Reading in the opening minutes.

"We decided to go at them from the first whistle and it paid off with some great football."

"I've seen Reading play a few times and they are better than this," said Redknapp, "but we played really well today in every department."

Steve Coppell: "They were better than us. "The first goal was a sloppy one from our point of view but I was still confident at half-time we could get back in it. Unfortunately it didn't work out that way.

"We showed a lot more purpose at the end but you would have to say that getting back from 3-0 down was always going to be difficult.

"We were up against a strong outfit, well-marshalled at the back, a goalkeeper playing at the top of his game and powerful, competitive midfield. Then there was Kanu's finishing - and it showed just how important he is after they took him off.

"We got back into it then but it was too late.This was always going to be one of the most difficult games we faced. It's like Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal. You are always happy if you get something from them.

"We've looked at the fixtures ahead and if we can keep putting our best side out I can guarantee we will be all right in this division. Pompey will definitely be looking up this season rather than down."