Coppell pays tribute to Doyle April 26 2008
Steve Coppell paid tribute to Kevin Doyle after the striker chose to help Reading's fight against Premier League relegation despite a family tragedy.
The Republic of Ireland striker's cousin, her husband and two children were all found dead following a house fire in Co Wexford in the early hours of the morning.
Doyle's family had kept the news from him but Coppell decided to tell the player.
After speaking to his family, Doyle decided to travel to Wigan and played a battling role in the 0-0 draw at the JJB Stadium.
Coppell said: "His family had wanted to keep it from him until after the match but I felt the right thing to do was to tell him what had happened.
"He felt, very bravely, that he wanted to play and he was terrific given the circumstances. I can only imagine what he was thinking about before the game.
"He was obviously very upset but I think, in a way, playing in the game took his mind off it rather than just sitting thinking about it.
"Now he can do his mourning with the rest of his family."
Reading have now gone five games and more than a month without scoring, but Coppell said he was just relieved to have moved off 32 points.
"I'm happy to have got a point and I would have taken that before kick-off," he said.
"We didn't play for a point because we are not good enough to adjust our game to the circumstances.
"We do need to score, we have always been quite fluent in front of goal so we will work on that next week and try to get better."
The match was almost devoid of incident apart from Wigan's Marcus Bent heading against the post in the seventh minute.
Wigan manager Steve Bruce said that both teams had been too nervous - he will also be without skipper Mario Melchiot for the final two games of the season after the defender tore a groin muscle.
Wigan need two more points to secure their place in the top flight for next season but face Aston Villa away and Manchester United at home in their last two games of the campaign.
"We started well but lost some impetus after Mario went off," said Bruce.
"It petered out into two nervous, anxious teams fighting for their lives.
"For both sets of players the occasion and the magnitude made them forget how to play the game but who knows - that might be the point that keeps us in the league."
He added: "I can't see Mario coming back for the remaining two games of the season and we now have to focus on those.
"We have got to go to Aston Villa next week and then Manchester United here but no one gave us a chance of getting anything at Chelsea so we will have to see what happens."