McDermott on Jay's future

Royals boss Brian McDermott has pledged to do the right thing by Jay Tabb - and will not stand in the midfielder’s way if a suitable offer comes in for him during this transfer window.





Tabb, 29 next month, is out of contract this summer and Brian will take an honourable approach with the midfelder, who he has described as one of the best professionals he has ever worked with.





Brian said, "I spoke to Jay, he is a fantastic person and I need to do right by him. I said to him if an opportunity comes your way that is right and the clubs do a deal, I will not stand in your way."





With the Royals having signed two midfielders and clubs having to resubmit their 25-man Premier League squads at the start of February, Brian has to assess all of the options available to him in this window, saying, "Make no mistake, I rate him very highly. At this moment in time he’s not been offered a contract so I’m trying to do right by him, it’s a fine balance. We've signed Hope and Daniel, we have five or six midfield players, if he’s not in our 18 every week and if he wants to go and play I’ll do right by him.





"The last thing I would want to happen – and it may well not – is to come to the summer and Jay is stuck in the queue with a lot of players. I want to do right by him and I will do right by him."