STEVE COPPELL is one of the game’s mildest managers and Ivar Ingimarsson must certainly be grateful for that after the Iceland international was culpable for the goal that checked Reading’s charge to the Premiership.

The Royals, who remain in second place in the Coca-Cola Championship, had looked on course for their 11th victory in 16 league games, a sequence that allied to cup successes have improved on a previous best set in 1973.

Leading through a smart 63rd-minute strike from the game’s other Icelander, Brynjar Gunnarsson, Coppell’s team had been busy fending off a re-jigged Leeds outfit that had been infused with extra energy by the introduction of David Healy.

The Northern Ireland international, famed for the goal that enabled his nation to beat England last month, gratefully accepted Ingimarsson’s gift of possession on the edge of the Reading box and fired past goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann to earn his side a point. The shot had taken a deflection off Ingimarsson’s heel, with Coppell revealing afterwards he was convinced it had initially been heading wide.

Such misfortune might have seen other managers launch into the hairdryer treatment but Coppell was having none of it. “People make mistakes,” he insisted. “It was ironic really. The shot was going marginally wide and just clipped him on the heels and went in. But it is not a blame culture here. We have no interest in that.”

Coppell also declared that his players, who are now unbeaten in their past 18 games, had put in poorer performances in some of those fixtures and still banked win bonuses.

If that was so then the quality of the finishing must surely have been higher as Dave Kitson, who started on the back of three goals in two games, spurned everything that came his way before being denied in stoppage time by Leeds’ veteran goalkeeper Neil Sullivan.

The 25-year-old is a volatile character and earlier in the week claimed he had been guilty of the equivalent of racial abuse by opposition fans who had focused on his ginger hair. This time he had no one but himself to point the finger at and Coppell made it clear afterwards that his top scorer had indeed been fully fit before quoting Lenny Bruce to dismiss the unusual claims.

That Leeds manager Kevin Blackwell had preferred to partner Robbie Blake with Rob Hulse speaks volumes for Healy’s recent performances but on this occasion he made the most of the 24 minutes afforded him.

“David gave us a different dimension and it proved crucial,” Blackwell said. “We created four or five of our best chances in those last 15 minutes. I have always said we will get better in the second half of the season. There is no doubt we have a decent set of players who have a great work ethic. We could have laid down and died at times as Reading put us under massive pressure.

“The signs are good. To come here against a side that hasn’t been beaten for so long is a pat on the back for all the players and shows how far we’ve come in the nine-and-a-half months since the chairman (Ken Bates) has come in.” Reading also had late chances, with Kitson’s the last. Earlier substitute Steve Sidwell planted a header past Sullivan but Gary Kelly was perfectly positioned to stop the ball and then collapse on it.

Of course, Reading will have a little taster of the Premiership when they take on Arsenal in the Carling Cup, a fixture Coppell was loath to admit even existed. But the ultra-cautious manager insisted he had good reason to be careful.

“It’s so far so good,” he admitted. “But we have been here before. Last Boxing Day we beat Watford and I thought we had a hell of a chance. I think I broke another record then of games without a win. It can happen in this division.”

STAR MAN: Bobby Convey (Reading)

Player ratings: Reading: Hahnemann 8, Murty 7, Sonko 7, Ingimarsson 6, Shorey 7, Little 7, Harper 6, Gunnarsson 7 (Sidwell, 84min 6), Convey 8 (Hunt, 87min 5), Kitson 6, Doyle 5

Leeds United: Sullivan 8, Kelly 7, Butler 7, Kilgannon 7, Harding 7, Richardson 6 (Moore, 68min 7), Douglas 6, Derry 6, Lewis 6 (Pugh, 90min 5), Hulse 6, Blake 6 (Healy, 66min 8)

Scorers: Reading: Gunnarsson 63

Leeds United: Healy 75

Referee: P Joslin

Attendance: 22,012

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