Pompey midfielder is out to dent home town hopes

The on-loan Sunderland midfielder returns to Victoria Park tonight – a ground where his father regularly took him as a youngster – eager to help Pompey put an end to their miserable run of form.

While Reed was signed up to the Black Cats’ academy from the age of just seven, he has revealed Hartlepool United was his first love.

But he has no problem putting Pompey first tonight – if only to avoid the ear-bashing he got after United came down to Fratton Park and won recently.

‘I was a Hartlepool fan growing up,’ said Reed.

‘Players like Tommy Miller and Micky Barron were my heroes and I used to go to every game with my dad.

‘I was at Sunderland from the age of seven and it’s a great academy to have been at.

‘Going back to my home town will be good for me but only if we get a result.

‘I’ve got a lot of friends and family who have been giving me stick and I don’t want to get beaten.

‘Maybe there’s a bit of extra motivation for me, with friends and family watching, but I will always give everything I’ve got in every game I play.’

Considering Reed has yet to make the first-team breakthrough at the Stadium of Light, it’s perhaps odd he has not gone out on loan closer to home and spent a spell at his hometown club.

But the player is happy to go wherever he can gain the experience and the enjoy the right challenge.

‘I’ve been on loan at other League One clubs but this is a massive club – the biggest one I’ve been on loan at,’ said the talented midfielder.

‘I seem to go out on loan at southern teams and I have never had the chance to play for Hartlepool.

‘But I don’t mind travelling and playing for clubs if it is the right move for me.’

At 21 years old, and with Sunderland a well-established Premier League side, Reed knows he faces a tough task to force his way into Martin O’Neill’s plans.

And he has conceded he may have to look elsewhere for the good of his career when his contract expires this summer.

‘My contract is up in the summer and I’ve been out on loan a lot, so I’ve played quite a few league games now,’ he said.

‘But then you go back and you don’t get an opportunity – so it gets a bit frustrating.

‘I know I will have to look at my future and I will find out sooner rather than later whether they will offer me a contract or whether I want to find another club and play first-team football.

‘I’ve been there a long time and it will be hard to make that decision if I decide to leave.

‘But every player wants to play first-team football once you’ve had that taste.

‘There is no better feeling than playing a proper game at 3pm on a Saturday.

‘To play in front of fans makes it a proper competitive game. It’s hard to go back to playing in the under-21s when you have had a taste of that.

‘There is nothing like league football and if I am meant to play at the highest level, I will get there.’

Reed added: ‘If we work as hard as we did in Bournemouth game, the results will come will come for us.

‘But we all have to step up and take responsibility.’