Yakubu happy to be back in England

Reading F.C. striker Yakubu Aiyegbeni has insisted he never ‘closed the door’ on returning the England when he quit Blackburn Rovers for Chinese Super League side Guangzhou R&F in 2012.

The former Nigeria international, who joined Reading via free transfer on 2 February, has scored one goal in four appearances in all competitions for the Royals over the past month.

A win at Bradford City on Saturday would send Reading to the FA Cup semi-finals for the first time since 1927.

“I never closed the door to say I’m not coming back to England – in football you never say never,” said Yakubu.

“I never thought my Wembley dream was over. I had the chance to come back here so I took it.

“England is one of the best places to play football, so I’m happy to be here, enjoying the moment and hopefully I can do more to help the team.

“I was going crazy when I couldn’t play in that game for Everton against Chelsea.

“But that was years ago, now we’ve got another 90 minutes to play, and hopefully we can be there again.”

Keane doing well at Wigan

Manchester United forward Will Keane believes he has had a successful loan spell at Sky Bet Championship side Sheffield Wednesday this season.

Since arriving at the Hillsborough in January, Keane, who is set to stay in Owlerton until the end of the season, has bagged three goals in six appearances for Wednesday.

“I think I’ve taken to it quite well,” said Keane.

“I had the experience of being on loan last year so I’m used to the physicality of it. It’s a tough league to play in.

“But the players around me have helped me a lot and I think the two recent wins have helped with our confidence and all the lads have got a bit of belief.

“We’ve just got to keep pushing on. We were unlucky against Blackburn. We know we have to do better, but I’m really enjoying it.”

At 22, Keane has made just one senior appearance for the Red Devils. He is currently behind the likes of Angelo Henriquez, James Wilson, Radamel Falcao (on loan from AS Monaco), Robin van Persie and Wayne Rooney in the pecking order at Old Trafford.

Thus, Keane, whose current contract at United is set to expire on 30 June, is essentially auditioning for his long-term future during his loan spell at Wednesday. So far so good.