Reading 2 Birmingham City 1: Grieving Bikey lifts Reading's spirits to defy Blues

No player at a club managed by Steve Coppell is ever likely to misplace his sense of perspective for long, but for Andre Bikey Saturday's game against Birmingham really was just a game. It may have been a relegation six-pointer, with down the line livelihoods at stake, but Bikey had woken to the news that his mother-in-law had died.

Nevertheless, he played and had an eventful afternoon, twice glancing in headers either side of being implicated in Mauro Zarate's equaliser. That looked to be the springboard for a City win prior to Bikey's final intervention.

Some might suggest Bikey, instead of pointing skywards in dedication, should have got the first plane to Barcelona to join his Spanish wife's grieving relations, but he also felt a sense of responsibility to Reading. The Berkshire club work hard at fostering a sense of community among the players, the support, and the town, and Bikey is grateful for that.

The Cameroonian is only 23 but he has had a peripatetic career. After playing in Spain and Portugal he was frequently the victim of racist abuse in Russia before joining Reading.

His fifth club in as many years is also the first one he and his family have felt settled at. "I spoke with the gaffer [Coppell]," Bikey said, "he didn't ask me to play, though. It was my decision. We have been working all week on this match and I thought I should play.

"I spoke with my family before the game. They told me it was important to play. It was a difficult decision but I think my mother-in-law would have wanted me to. I have played and scored and now I am really happy.

"My mother-in-law was very important to me. She was a very good person. It was not a great surprise because she had been sick for a long time with cancer, but was only in her fifties. I will now go to Barcelona and come back Wednesday."

Bikey's spirit typified the kind Reading needed to overcome the nerves which threatened to paralyse their game. "You want to try and play as much as you can," said goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann, "but when you're down there your butt cheeks are clenched so tight. You just launch everything. I don't even want to throw the ball out to my defence because I don't want to take chances. When things aren't going so well everyone is on edge. You yell at someone. They have a go back. You don't accomplish anything."

Birmingham must now conquer their nerves. They are a point clear of the relegation zone with their prospects hampered by the knee operation James McFadden underwent on Friday. Alex McLeish hopes the £5m signing will be back inside three weeks but he may struggle to regain immediately the form which had brought him four goals in five matches.

Goals, said McLeish, are required as "we have to score at least two or three to win a game now, because we're losing goals. But one thing for certain is we'll get a clean sheet one day. We're aiming for it to happen next week against Man City, and to get three points."

They might for when the clever Zarate tapped in, after Mikaël Forssell turned Ivar Ingimarsson, the game changed and City looked more likely winners right up to Bikey again beating Jaidi to a set piece. Ridgewell added: "We have got to crack on and take that performance into the rest of the season." They do for, as Hahnemann observed, "Confidence and momentum play such a huge part".

A sense of calm helps. Reading lost eight matches on the spin mid-season but no one called for Coppell's head. "Even when we went through that 'glitch' nobody ever questioned his ability," said his chairman, John Madejski. "It would have been complete lunacy to even consider changing the manager."

Of the bottom eight only Reading and Sunderland have not changed their manager this season.

Goals: Bikey (31) 1-0; Zarate (64) 1-1; Bikey (79) 2-1.

Reading (4-4-2): Hahnemann; Rosenior, Bikey, Ingimarsson, Shorey; Oster (Long, 76), Harper, Matejovsky (Cissé, 81), Hunt; Kitson, Doyle. Substitutes not used: Kebe, Sonko, Federici (gk).

Birmingham City (4-4-1-1): Maik Taylor; Kelly, Jaidi, Ridgewell, Murphy; Larsson, Muamba, Nafti, McSheffrey (O'Connor, 66); Zarate; Forssell (Jerome, 80). Substitutes not used: Parnaby, Johnson, Doyle (gk).

Referee: M Riley (West Yorkshire).

Booked: Birmingham City Ridgewell.

Man of the match: Bikey.

Attendance: 24,085.

Interesting? Click here to explore further