McDermott: Don't write us off

Harry Redknapp has praised Andre Villas-Boas' work at Tottenham and dismissed reports of a dispute with his successor.

The QPR manager's recent comment that only "a dope" could fail as Chelsea boss was widely interpreted as a dig at Villas-Boas, who lasted less than nine months at Stamford Bridge.

But Redknapp sought out his counterpart in the aftermath of Saturday's goalless draw with old club Spurs to explain his comments.

And he said: "There is no problem with him, I don't know him - I met him on the touchline for one minute and talked to him.

"A story was made up after I said the other week that you would have to be dopey not to succeed with Chelsea's squad - I was talking about Rafael Benitez, and I said I don't think he will fail because he is not a dope.

"I never mentioned anyone else - so I don't know why people have to twist it and make it look like I'm talking about Villas-Boas."

Spurs are in a Champions League qualification place with more than half the season played, and Redknapp said: "I just see what a good job he is doing, and he is doing a good job.

"He didn't take my job, I didn't have a job - I was gone. Someone had to take the job, what difference to me if he takes it or someone else takes it, it makes no difference to my life."

The Baggies had been in cruise control after Belgian international striker Romelu Lukaku had put them 2-0 up. It could have been more but he hit the woodwork twice.

Reading appeared down and out. They had been distinctly second best and a return to the bottom of the table, after QPR's draw with Tottenham earlier in the day, seemed inevitable.

But Reading conjured a remarkable finish to the game, snatching victory from the jaws of defeat with three goals in the last nine minutes from Jimmy Kebe, Adam Le Fondre and Pavel Pogrebnyak.

The result leaves Reading three points off safety and McDermott believes the teams directly above them - including next weekend's opponents Newcastle - will be nervously looking over their shoulders.

"I think so. We are one game, or three points, from the team above us," McDermott said. "People automatically wrote QPR and Reading off. We have been written off for ages, since we won promotion.

"It is nothing new to me. Since I got the job we have always been written off.

"But we got that first goal and you saw a side that showed real belief and character. That is a game that will go down in lot of peoples' memories."

After a run of seven successive defeats, Reading have pieced together two wins and a draw from their last four games in the league.

And it has come about with a change of approach from McDermott.

"I have learned a lot about this division in the last four months," he said. "It is an incredible division. Sometimes you can't be gung-ho, you can't go for it like a boxer because you will get knocked out.

"That is what happened to us early on in the season.

"You set the team up the best way you possibly can, you stay in the game and if you can win it late on, you win it late on.

"You have to (contain teams). It's a case of staying in the game. We can't give away goals in the first half."