PAUL CLEMENT is chomping at the bit to stand on the Madejski Stadium touchline following a three-month long absence from football.

The new Reading FC boss, 46, admitted he has been out of the game for far longer than he had hoped and stressed he cannot wait to get going again with the Royals.

Clement was sacked from Swansea City in December and has spent time working with the media, jetting abroad and meeting other managers.

But he cut short his holiday in Los Angeles when Ron Gourlay approached him to become Jaap Stam's successor.

"It's a really good opportunity," beamed Clement.

"The club want to be in the Premier League and that's my ambition as well - to coach at that level again."

Before managing the Swans, Clement had been in charge of a then high-flying Derby County - but was surprisingly sacked despite Rams sitting in play-off positions.

Clement, who penned a three-year deal at Madejski Stadium, has failed to last more than a year as manager of a club, and hopes to buck that trend with Reading.

"I think managers have always got a point to prove," asserted Clement.

"I have a burning ambition to be successful - I will be the judge as to whether I am successful or not - I won't allow anyone else to make that decision for me.

"I've had a wonderful experience both as a manager and as an assistant - some of those times were very good, others were testing but in all those times you gain experience.

"When I was a younger coach I didn't think experience would be so important - I thought it was more about knowledge and personality. But now having had experience I know how important it is and I will be using it all to try and make this team better.

"My house couldn't be any tidier, my car couldn't be any cleaner and the grass is looking wonderful. But it's time to get back into coaching - it was three months and that was three months too long for me."

Clement, whose brother Neil enjoyed a short spell with Reading during the earlier parts of his career, said he has always held the club in high regard.

He also believes he is the right man to turn Royals' fortunes around and propel the club towards the Premier League.

But he stressed he is under no illusions about the task at hand with Reading hovering above the Championship relegation zone.

"We're not sure how long that is going to take," he concluded.

"It's a big test. There are a lot of other really good clubs that want to go to the Premier League. But we believe we have the infrastructure in place to do that.

"We're moving to a new training ground in the imminent future and these are all things that will attract good players.

"We want to build on the squad, improve them but the focus has to be on the next eight games."