Sheppard set to finalise move

KARL SHEPPARD expects to complete his move to Reading today with the 20 year-old striker having passed his medical and agreed personal terms with the Championship outfit over the course of the last 48 hours.

“Yeah, it should get done tomorrow,” he said last night. “It’s taken a bit longer than everyone expected; there wasn’t much point in me coming over before Christmas when I wasn’t going to be able to play until January 1st and then they had so many games that it was difficult to get it all sorted out, but things went well today and I think it’s just a question at this stage of sitting down and actually signing.”

New Rovers manager Stephen Kenny had been hoping to keep the under-21 international at Tallaght for the coming season, with Sheppard having scored 10 league goals during 2011 despite missing part of the season through illness.

He also looked to be one of the side’s most effective players during the recent Europa Cup campaign.

The striker had been a free agent since the end of last year’s campaign, however, and was well aware Reading had been watching his progress over the last few months.

There is also said to have been interest in the Dubliner from the likes of Blackpool, Cardiff City and Peterborough United.

“The manager (Brian McDermott) had been over to a few games to see me play and he’s been very positive about the move,” he said.

“It’s a club with a great history of bringing Irish players through and obviously I’d like to emulate the likes of Kevin (Doyle) and Shane (Long) by doing well there too.

“It’s somewhere that I know that if I play well then I’ll get my chance, that’s what the manager has said to me, and that’s what I’m looking forward to doing. I can’t wait to get started at this stage.”