Reading 0-1 Tottenham

If you stand still in the Premier League, you get overtaken - that is why the only place Reading are going on current form is back to the Championship.

With their top-flight future now out of their hands after failing to score in over nine hours, Steve Coppell's side are paying the price for loyalty.

Standing by your man is fine for Tammy Wynette but does not work so well in the cut-throat world of the Premier League.

This is not the same Reading team that ran away with the Championship and shocked the Premier League last season. Many of the names are the same - Kevin Doyle, Stephen Hunt, James Harper - but the players are different.

Gone is the wit and verve that saw Reading simply destroy Tottenham 3-1 in the corresponding fixture last season. What is left is a shell of a team that has run out of ideas and, playing like this, will struggle to win at rock-bottom Derby on the final day.

They look like dead men walking. And Coppell, whose own position has been made bomb-proof by the support of chairman John Madejski, accepted the blame. "We stood still last summer, everybody else moved," he admitted.

"If you look at Manchester United, they spent £50million last summer and other teams were spending £20m or £30m.

"Over the last two years we set the players the goal of winning promotion, which they achieved with a record total of points. We set the goal last year of maintaining our Premier League status, which they did from eighth position.

"I made the decision that I didn't want to reward two years of success by telling half the team 'thanks a lot, but you're finished now.' If it doesn't work it's my fault."

Coppell has spent around £15m on the likes of Greg Halford, Kalifa Cisse and record £2.5m signing Emerse Fae since reaching the top flight. But wage restrictions have meant the new players have hardly improved his Championship-winning team and his forays into the foreign market have been failures.

"We have a certain mentality," admitted Coppell. "We never bought promotion and bringing people in from different countries, it's hard to integrate them to our mentality."

The Royals boss found no loyalty from FaeandIbrahima Sonko last week when they refused to play in a reserve game and were banned for the rest of the season.

Liam Rosenior and Dave Kitson were denied late equalisers by Radek Cerny but after dominating the first half, Spurs should have won by more than Robbie Keane's cool 16th-minute finish.

Not that it really mattered to coach Juande Ramos. "It's true, the last three games we have been playing with our needs already covered," admitted the Spaniard, whose side host Liverpool on the final day.

"The sooner the season finishes, the better."

With Dimitar Berbatov out with a groin injury, at least Darren Bent finally showed the form that convinced Spurs to pay a club record £16.5m for his services last summer.

"It was one of my best performances," said the England striker. "Hopefully, there'll be a few more performances and goals to come."

Don't be surprised if there are not too many games to come for Coppell as Reading manager. "It's no relief whatsoever to be playing Derby next week," he groaned.

"It doesn't matter who we play, we have got to win a game. We've lost the habit of winning a football match."

Reading: Hahnemann 7, Rosenior 5 (Oster 88), Ingimarsson 5, Duberry 6, Shorey 4, Doyle 6 (Long 80, 4), Harper 4 d, Bikey 6 (Matejovsky 65, 5), Hunt 5, Lita 5, Kitson 5.

Tottenham: Cerny 7, Hutton 6, Dawson 6, Woodgate 7, Gilberto 6, Jenas 7, Zokora 7, Huddlestone 7 (O'Hara 61, 6), Malbranque 8, Keane 8 (Boateng 77, 4), Bent 7.

Referee: Howard Webb

Attendance: 24,125