A serious pre-season injury sustained by Wilfred Bouma forced Martin O'Neill into a transfer search he had not envisaged, so the manager was delighted to secure the services of Reading's reliable left-back Nicky Shorey.

The deal meant Shorey ended a seven-and-a-half year association with the Berkshire club, for whom he made over 300 league and cup appearances.

He started his career at Leyton Orient in 1998 and after a number of appearances for the London club's first team he was signed by Reading boss Alan Pardew for an initial £25,000 in February 2001.

He quickly became a regular for the Royals and became such a firm favourite that in a poll to establish Reading's best-ever line-up, he secured the left-back spot with 53 per cent of the vote.

He is also one of the few footballers to have played in all four divisions of the English game - and has also won two England caps.

Having played for England B against Albania in May 2007, he subsequently made his full international debut against Brazil at Wembley the following month and also appeared in another friendly against Germany.