Former Reading favourite Nick Blackman has admitted that he 'had a cry' when he found out he was not selected for the 2015 FA Cup semi-final squad and that it still 'hurts' to this day.

Joining from Sheffield United back in 2013, the winger-turned-forward was a regular for the Royals in 2014/15- playing 43 times.

However, the Barbados international missed out on one of the biggest occasions in the club's history, after Steve Clarke's side reached the last four of the FA Cup.

Due to face serial winners Arsenal, the forward recalled a meeting with Clarke on the day of the game in an interview with the Tilehurst End.

"We got on a decent run and come the Wembley game I remember he called me into his office," he said. "There was another player in front of me and he just walked out and shook his head, and I knew then it was probably bad news. I remember him just telling me, he was there with his coach Kev Keen, unfortunately, you’re going to miss out on the bench today.

"It hurt me because I was part of the squads- if not playing or starting. I wasn’t really a starter when he first came in, but I would normally come on for 15-20 minutes and play so coming out of the blue, it hit me. I just remember that I felt this numbness and went straight to Chris Gunter and Garath McCleary’s room and burst out crying. Those two were probably my closest friends within the squad. They were consoling me but I felt a bit bad because I knew that they had potentially the biggest game of their lives coming up in a few hours, but we were close. I had my cry and then I rolled my sleeves up and got behind the boys.

"It was amazing to see how well they did. They put up a fight against Arsenal, played some good football and even had them on the ropes for a period of time. Still to this day, it hurts me that I wasn’t involved and didn’t get on the pitch, but that moment is pivotal for me and shaped my Reading career. It was something I used."

Reading took the eventual champions all the way to extra-time, losing 2-1 after Alexis Sanchez scored a brace.

Blackman's final half-season in 2015/16 would go on to be his best, scoring 13 goals in 28 appearances before his £3.5m move to Derby County in January 2016.