It’s almost 30 years since Reading manager Brian McDermott had a brief loan spell as a Huddersfield Town player.

McDermott arrived in November 1986, as then-boss Mick Buxton battled to guide his team away from the lower reaches of the original Division II (now Championship).

Buxton wanted to add some skill and pace to his attack while McDermott, who had come through the ranks at Arsenal, was keen to get his career back on track after it had stalled at Oxford United.

The Slough-born 25-year-old, having helped Oxford win promotion to the top flight under Jim Smith, had fallen out of favour with successor Maurice Evans, and had spent time over in Sweden before his loan switch to Leeds Road.

He made four appearances, and while three of them ended in defeat, Buxton was keen to make the deal permanent.

However McDermott, who scored in the 4-3 derby defeat at Bradford, opted to stay in the South for family reasons.

“It’s a pity the way things have worked out because I would like to have kept him, but that’s how things sometimes go,” said Buxton.