It was a decade ago now, yet some Reading fans still hold it against Albion boss Mark McGhee for leaving them for Leicester.

McGhee can expect a hostile reception from sections of the Madejski Stadium on Saturday when he takes Albion back to the club where he cut his managerial teeth.

It won't bother the single-minded Scotsman one bit. He stopped worrying about the grudge-bearers a long time ago.

"It gets churned out every time I play Reading and you have got to remember now it was ten years ago that I left," McGhee said.

"A huge number of younger Reading supporters don't even know who Mark McGhee is, so it is becoming old hat.

"For those that still hang on to some sort of resentment I say the same as I have always said.

"As far as I am concerned I did as good a job as I could possibly do at Reading. I subsidised myself to do that job in the sense that I was earning an absolute pittance.

"I took it because I wanted to get into management and learn my trade. I took them from being middle of the Second Division to second top of the First Division when I left, so I am absolutely proud of my achievements there. I've got nothing to be ashamed of.

"Certain elements give me stick, but it is absurd. I have been back there loads of times since.

"At first it used to upset me, but it no longer does because it is now becoming ridiculous."

Alan Pardew has take over as public enemy No.1 at Reading after walking out for West Ham last season and McGhee will receive a warm welcome from at least one of the Royals' players.

Adie Williams, their long-serving captain and centre half, was part of the side McGhee guided to the Second Division title in 1994, then also played under him for Wolves.

"I'm really looking forward to the game," said Williams. "There is the Mark McGhee factor, but I don't think he will get stick as there's another manager, who I won't name, who gets it now!

"There's a lot of water under the bridge. He's been manager of four different clubs since Reading.

"I still bump into him now and then and buy him a drink and it will be nice to see him. He did a lot for myself and my career and he did a lot for Reading."

Steve Coppell can expect some abuse from elements of the travelling support after reluctantly quitting Albion for Reading last season.

McGhee sought Coppell's advice before replacing him in the Seagulls' hotseat.

"He is on the record as saying it was a hard decision for him, because he had a good group of players here who he enjoyed working with," McGhee said. "That is what I inherited.

"He told me about the club and the back-up, everything from the chairman to the medical staff and how good they were, and I have not been disappointed.

"Although they had just been relegated and started to struggle after his departure, he had them in decent shape."

Three of the most significant signings Coppell made for Albion are sidelined tomorrow. Leon Knight is suspended, Simon Rodger and Dean Blackwell both still injured.

Danny Cullip, Gary Hart, Nathan, Jones and Kerry Mayo, survivors of the last day draw at Grimsby which condemned Coppell's Seagulls to relegation from the First Division two seasons ago, will be involved.

To what extent will tomorrow's Coca-Cola Championship opener be an indication of Albion's prospects this time?

"I think in many ways it will be," said McGhee. "We are not the finished article.

"We expect to get better, both from the point of view of improving as a team as we get fitter and playing together in the First Division, and if we add any bodies.

"I don't expect us to give our best performance of the season on Saturday, but it will still be a benchmark of what we can expect from the opposition. It should be a measure of how far we've come or how far we have got to go."