GARATH McCleary believes Steve Clarke will prove his loyalty to Reading FC by winning promotion to the Premier League this season.

Royals’ winger is convinced there is no-one better for the job than the 52-year-old Scot.

Clarke came close to walking out on Reading last week when he spoke to Fulham about a move to Crave Cottage. But he weighed up his options before pledging his future to the Royals.

The saga angered the majority of fans who are questioning Clarke’s long-term commitment to the club.
However, McCleary says the time has come to move on.

“Last week was okay for me because I was away with Jamaica for games against Panama and Haiti,” said the 28-year-old winger. “I don’t think anything has changed, we still want to push for promotion.

“We didn’t talk too much about the manager’s situation, but I’m really happy he is staying.

“I think he’s the man who will get us promoted, I think he’s brilliant. I have nothing but praise for him.”

He added: “I was a bit shocked when I heard the news. I think he’s a top manager so there will always be interest.

“He was honest with the players which is a good thing because some managers aren’t so honest and won’t tell it how it is.”

Clarke went some way to repairing the damage last Saturday when Reading secured their first Championship victory in six matches with a 2-1 home win over struggling Bolton Wanderers.

Clarke’s men are hoping for another three points this Saturday when they travel to McCleary’s former club, Nottingham Forest (3pm ko).

The ex-Slough Town player, who left the City Ground for Reading in a £1.5 million deal in 2012, said: “We hadn’t won for a while before Saturday, so hopefully beating Bolton last weekend will help us put all this behind us. We had to grind out three points so hopefully that will change our fortunes.

“It would be nice to get a regular run in the side, but that’s up to the gaffer. I haven’t played 90 minutes yet this season, so hopefully I can get into it more.

“Maybe I need to score a few more goals and get a few more assists. All I can do is keeping working hard.”

And McCleary is also urging Royals fans to back the players in the weeks to come: “We were 2-0 up against Bolton and I felt the fans could have got behind the boys a bit more.

"We all want promotion and maybe that extra bit of noise will help us. You have to put everything else on the backburner and just get behind the team.”