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Attendance: 32,478

Championship

May 6, 2018 at 12.30pm UK

Cardiff Cardiff City
0-0
Reading

Paul Clement hoping to emulate Neil Warnock achievement

By Daniel Lewis, Senior Reporter | 06 May 2018

Clement hoping to emulate Warnock achievement

Paul Clement aims to take Reading up to the Premier League in his first full campaign in charge of the club following their relegation scare this time around.

Reading manager Paul Clement has revealed that he intends to make some changes to his squad over the summer in an attempt to replicate the success of Neil Warnock and his Cardiff City side.

The Royals held on for a point in Sunday afternoon's clash in South Wales to make certain of their place in the Championship on a day of celebration at the Cardiff City Stadium.

While Reading were able to avoid the drop by three points, the Bluebirds did enough to get over the promotion-winning line thanks to Fulham's 3-1 defeat at Birmingham City.

Asked about Warnock's record-breaking eighth managerial promotion, three of which have come from the second tier, Clement told Sports Mole: "It is a brilliant achievement and nobody would have predicted it at the start of the season. It is a very tough and exciting league to get out of.

"I told my players in the dressing room after the match that this is what we have to aim for. Warnock is an expert at getting teams up. Cardiff have been extremely effective and supporters will not be concerned about the style of play."

Reading rounded off a disappointing campaign with a spirited display, but Clement - appointed as Jaap Stam's successor in March - acknowledges that being left to sweat on their place in the Championship is something that cannot happen next time around.

"We're not celebrating in the way Cardiff are but we're pleased," he added. "When I was brought in with eight games to play the owners made it clear that the challenge was to keep the club up.

"We've had a few ups and down along the way but I'm pleased we were able to do it. Two wins and two draws has proved to be enough to get the job done by ourselves - I'm happy about that. You never know what is around the corner in football.

"We came close last season - a penalty away from going up - and this season we were potentially one game from going down to League One. It is not a good situation and we need to put that right over the summer."

Cardiff join Wolverhampton Wanderers in booking an automatic promotion spot, while Fulham will now contest in the playoffs with Aston Villa, Middlesbrough and Derby County.