Marcus Hahnemann says he cannot bear the thought of helping to send Fulham out of the Premier League.

The Royals keeper has a lot of friends at the Cottagers. Not only did he spend three seasons at Craven Cottage, but the West London side boast five of his American compatriots - Kasey Keller, Carlos Bocanegra, Clint Dempsey, Brian McBride and former Royals trailist Eddie Johnson,

Hahnemann knows that this Saturday's home game could prove vital in Reading's hopes of avoiding the drop, but but he is also aware that a Reading win will almost certainly spell the end of Fulham's seven year stint in the Premier League, and it is not something he is relishing.

He said, "Games against Fulham are always meaningful for me. When we play them it is always pretty entertaining for the American boys, and the winners get the banter rights.

"But this time I almost want to downplay it. I'll feel like that especially when I see the guys at Fulham on Saturday, because the game has so much meaning to us both.

"I am good friends with them. I see Kasey every once in a while, we end up going to shows together and hanging out. So in some ways it won't be a happy day for me if we win, I could help send my buddies down to the Championship.

"Last year we went through the exact same scenario. We played them late on in the season and won 1-0 at home. After the game I came upstairs and someone asked if I was happy with the clean sheet. I wasn't at all happy and I didn't feel like celebrating because I'd just talked to my buddies from Fulham and they were as down as you could be. It's one of those things and you try not to think about it."

Despite his feelings for the Fulham situation, Marcus knows a win is vital for the Royals hopes of pulling clear of the relegation issue. Three points could make all the difference at this late stage of the season.

He said, "We need a win. We put a run of three wins out of four a few weeks ago which made a big difference to us. But we know that other teams down there could do that as well, Fulham and Bolton could still have a good run.

"We need the points to get us closer to safety. We don't want to keep looking over our shoulders. We need at least one more win, and the sooner it comes the better."