Brian McDermott clinched promotion from the Championship last season when he guided Reading to the Premier League for the second time in the club's history.

Having reached the Championship Play-Off final in 2011, Reading won 15 of their last 19 games in 2011/12 to secure a Premier League return.

The 52-year-old had spent 12 years at Reading before parting company with the club earlier this season. He joined initially as chief scout before joining the coaching staff, and he stepped up as caretaker manager in December 2009, following Brendan Rogers' departure.

He was handed the job on a permanent basis the following January and, having been denied by Swansea in the Play-Off final at the end of his first full season in charge, he piloted the club back to the top-flight the following season when he was also named LMA Championship Manager Of The Year.

As a player, McDermott started his career at Arsenal where he spent five years before going on to have spells with Fulham, Norrkoping, Oxford, Huddersfield, Cardiff, Exeter, and Yeovil. After a short stint in China, he returned to the UK where he managed Woking and Slough before joining Reading in 2000.

SPONSORED BY: