latest news
HUNT KEEN TO ESTABLISH PLACE
Hunt - no deadline-day move.
Stephen Hunt is determined to give his all for Reading to keep himself in the picture for his country.
The Republic of Ireland winger flew out to Germany with his international colleagues on Thursday afternoon ahead of the qualifiers against Georgia and Montenegro as an eventful week in his career drew to a close.
Hunt might have returned to the Barclays Premier League on Monday had a deadline-day switch not fallen through.
His disappointment has been tempered a little by his inclusion in the starting line-up for Saturday night's World Cup qualifier against Georgia in Mainz as a replacement for the injured Damien Duff.
However, he knows only continued good form for the Royals will keep him in national boss Giovanni Trapattoni's thoughts, and that is as good a reason as any to maintain his standards at club level.
Hunt said: "I said in the Premier League that if you play in the Premier League, you do stand a better chance of getting in the starting XI.
"What I have got to do is keep my standards as high as I can and score as many goals as I can and be in the headlines as much as I possibly can between now and the end of the season, and then in World Cup year, be in the Premier League with Reading or without Reading."
Duff's injury has presented Hunt with a real opportunity as Ireland look to launch their qualifying campaign in style by taking maximum points from two of the sides they will need to get ahead off if they are to emerge from Group Eight.
He is likely to start on the right flank with Aiden McGeady on the left, although Trapattoni has made a point of asking his wide men to swap flanks at regular intervals during his reign to date.
The Italian will demand Hunt works as hard going towards his own goal as he does in the opposite direction, but that is not a problem for the 27-year-old.
Hunt said: "I understand fully how the manager wants me to play, and I think it suits my game.
"Whether he has seen enough of me to know that is another thing, but it suits me the way he wants me to play in terms of helping the full-back out. Just ask Nicky Shorey.
"It is an opportunity. I came in halfway through the last campaign, four or five games into it when we were dead and buried.
"I am hoping we start off a good campaign and in two years' time, I will be at a World Cup in the starting XI. I am looking forward to the next couple of games."
Full-back Kevin Kilbane trained at Gannon Park wearing a protective mask over his fractured cheekbone and has been declared fit to start against Georgia.
