Nottingham Forest man braced for Reading boo boys

Nottingham Forest defender Matt Mills says he is ready to play pantomime villain when Reading visit the City Ground on Saturday.

Mills, 29, is braced for a hostile reception against his former employers.

The centre-half played for the Royals for two seasons but he expects to receive plenty of stick from the boo boys.

“I have had a couple of clubs since, so it is not that big a deal for me – I am sure the Reading fans will put on their normal pantomime show for me,” said Mills.

“They like to give me a bit of grief.

“But I will be focused on the job in hand, which is helping to ensure we get the result we want.

“I have had a bit of a mixed bag against them since I left, I have played in a couple of big wins against them, but also a few defeats.

“I know Forest beat them twice last season and it would be nice to repeat that this time around.

“But not because it means I would get one over on one of my former clubs – more because of the significance of three points at this moment in time.”

Forest are hovering cautiously above the relegation zone and three points against Steve Clarke’s side would stand them in good stead says Mills, who wants to put last Saturday’s late loss to Brentford to one side.

“Obviously we want to send our home fans home happy. That is the most important thing for us right now,” he added.

“We have experienced players in the dressing room and on the pitch at Brentford – so we should have seen the game through.

“It is nothing to do with the management or tactics.

“Emotionally we got too caught up in the game.

“Having gone a goal down, coming out of the game with a point would not have been a bad results – but we could not manage that.”