'It is more likely they will fire me' - ex-Southampton boss' position is clear after Pompey's League One rivals punished

The 40-year-old committed his future to the club after the Royals were slapped with another points deduction on Wednesday.

Reading were docked three points after failing to comply with an order designed to protect payments to staff. The punishment comes after the Royals started the season on minus-one point having previously breached EFL financial regulations.

Selles & Co now sit 21st in the League One table on two points. They have started the season with two wins and four defeats from their six games played.

Next up is a home game against one of the division’s promotion favourites, Bolton.

In the lead up to the match, Selles – who replaced Paul Ince as Reading boss in June – said the only way he’d leave was if the troubled Royals were to sack him.

‘I’m not planning to walk away at any point,’ the former Saints boss told rdg.today.

‘My mind is here. My brain, my soul, everything is here and I’m wishing to get the very best of the team and the best results for the club.

‘I’m trying to keep my focus on the pitch. That doesn’t mean you can’t have a bad day because a lot has been going on.

‘It is more likely they will fire me than I will walk away. Unfortunately, I have been in some similar positions in my career a long time ago in different countries. I know at the end of it there is always something positive and sometimes we have to suffer.

‘We had a meeting this morning and put everything on the table. We know where we are, all together.

‘There has been some key moments for us that unfortunately we solve it or not in the last seconds but we did not solve it.

‘We were asking and trying to be informed if we were making it or not and we didn’t.

‘What I see right now is we face the problem every single month so what I expect at some point is to change it, but I have no answer for that.’

Pompey, who travel to Derby on Saturday, face Reading on October 28 at the Select Car Leasing Stadium.

Selles took temporary charge of Southampton last season following the sacking of Nathan Jones. He won just two of his 17 games in charge as Saints were relegated to the Championship.