Reading goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann is heavyhearted about this weekend’s match-up against Fulham FC. The Cottagers, Hahnemann’s former team and the current employer of five of his American compatriots, are teetering on the brink of relegation; defeat would almost certainly send them down. Reading is also hovering near the relegation zone, and will be looking to take three points, especially at home.
“Games against Fulham are always meaningful for me,” Hahnemann said. “When we play them it is always pretty entertaining for the American boys, and the winners get the banter rights. But this time I almost want to downplay it. I’ll feel like that especially when I see the guys at Fulham on Saturday, because the game has so much meaning to us both.
“In some ways it won’t be a happy day for me if we win,” he added. “I could help send my buddies down to the Championship. Last year we went through the exact same scenario. We played them late on in the season and won 1-0 at home. After the game I came upstairs and someone asked if I was happy with the clean sheet. I wasn’t at all happy and I didn’t feel like celebrating because I’d just talked to my buddies from Fulham and they were as down as you could be. It’s one of those things and you try not to think about it.”