Sport : Football

Nothing to prove for Gunter

15th September 2012, 02:13pm

Chris Gunter: Focused solely on Reading

Chris Gunter: Focused solely on Reading

Reading defender Chris Gunter will not be looking to prove a point when he lines up against former club Tottenham at the Madejski Stadium on Sunday.

The 23-year-old moved to White Hart Lane in 2008 after impressing for boyhood club Cardiff.

But the Wales international could not break into the Spurs first team under Juande Ramos or Harry Redknapp and was loaned out to Nottingham Forest 14 months later before sealing a permanent move to the City Ground.

Gunter is now back in the Barclays Premier League after Reading boss Brian McDermott secured his services over the summer but the full-back will treat Sunday's fixture against Spurs the same as any other.

"I don't think you can go into games trying to prove people wrong or show people stuff," he said.

"I had a brilliant time at Tottenham, it is a great club and I learned so much there so I was really thankful.

"But I'm a Reading player now and I will be doing my best to focus on that and get three points on Sunday.

"It is the same as any game, especially in the Premier League. The fans have been brilliant so far and you would expect a full stadium for a game like Tottenham, it is a really big game but it is no bigger or smaller than any other game."

Both Reading and Spurs are still without a league victory this season but the Royals have only played twice following the postponement of their clash with Sunderland.

It has been three-and-a-half weeks since McDermott's side were beaten 4-2 at Chelsea in their last Premier League match and Gunter is raring to get the Royals' season up and running.

He said: "It has been a long time obviously, it was disappointing to go all the way to Sunderland and have the game called off - so everyone is looking forward to getting back, playing and hopefully getting a good result on Sunday.

"In some ways it is frustrating because we started okay and played well against Stoke, we did well against Chelsea so sometimes you want to carry it on.

"But in other ways it is good to have a bit of time away and work on stuff and it gives the manager more time on the training pitch instead of just preparing for games."

Reading earned a lot of plaudits for the way they attacked Chelsea at Stamford Bridge and Gunter is not ready to press the panic button just yet, even with only one point on the board.

"We have only played two games, it is too early and certainly no-one here is worrying," he said.

"Like I said, you look at the performance against Stoke and we did really well and against Chelsea, up until 70 minutes I genuinely thought we were going to get something and probably win the game.

"It is not a worry, the victories are coming - if the performances are good the results usually follow."

Returning to club duty is a welcome relief for Gunter, who featured in both of Wales' World Cup qualifiers during the past week.

A 2-0 defeat at home to Belgium was followed by a heavy 6-1 loss in Serbia and Gunter is hoping to feed off the positive energy from those players in the Reading squad who had more successful international breaks.

"After Tuesday's game it is good to forget about it as soon as possible," he said.

"It is good to come back and see the boys who were not focusing on a defeat so it is the best way and it is good that you just have to move on."

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