Reading manager Steve Coppell is concerned that an Englishman may never again be appointed to any of the country's top jobs.With the Football Association poised to appoint Fabio Capello as the new England coach, Coppell has voiced concern the home-grown boss must now be regarded as an endangered species.

He believes it is already impossible for an English manager to be recruited by an elite club and that more and more of the Barclays Premier League also-rans will look abroad in the future.

Coppell also made it clear he would not welcome former Italy international Capello to these shores.

He said: "I'm sad, to be honest. I'm a proud English manager and I would have loved an Englishman to have been in charge.

"You look at his CV and I must admit it is enticing. He is everything that you would want an England manager to be but, as an Englishman, how would you like an Italian coming in taking your job?

"You look at the list of contenders and what he has done ticks all the boxes but I just wish he was English.

"We have now created a situation where it is very hard for an English manager to get to the top of the tree.

"The only way realistically now for an English manager to get a job in the Premier League is if he takes a team up there himself.

"Certainly, none of the elite half of the table are going to appoint an English manager.

"I don't think I will ever get an elite job myself if I'm honest. The big teams will now always go for continental managers with European experience."

One potential solution to that problem was for English managers to try their luck abroad, as Terry Venables did in the 1980s when he enjoyed a successful spell at Barcelona.

But Coppell was convinced that particular act is almost impossible to follow.

He said: "How he did it I don't know, but it was magnificent. But now English coaches are not coveted. There is no way an Englishman would get a job in Italy, absolutely no way whatsoever."

Reading travel to Birmingham on Saturday to take on opponents who have also appointed a new manager in the shape of Alex McLeish.

And although the former Scotland boss, who enjoyed a successful playing career under Sir Alex Ferguson at Aberdeen, is just as British as Coppell, the Royals boss regarded him as much of a foreigner as Capello.

He said: "It is the English Premier League so for me it is just the same. I know obviously the connection with Scotland goes back many, many years but things change."

The Royals welcome defender Michael Duberry back to the squad following a month out with a rib injury.

Skipper Graeme Murty is expected to keep his place despite receiving treatment for a should problem as Reading look to build on last weekend's magnificent 3-1 victory over Liverpool.

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