Shaun Goater admitted yesterday “the football chapter in my life is coming to a close” after being told not to travel with his Reading team-mates on Saturday.

The Bermudian frontman's season took another dramatic turn for the worse when coach Steve Coppell couldn't even offer the Goat a spot on the bench for the trip to Wolves - a game the Royals lost 4-1.

His decision, relayed to the Manchester City legend on Friday, marked a new low for Goater in his professional career.

“This is the first time since I have become a professional that I have been asked not to travel when I am fit and available,” said a philosophical Goater yesterday.

“I must admit I am very disappointed but this is football so you just have to get on with things.

“It has never happened to me before but it made me realise some things.

“The football chapter in my life is coming to a close, what happened at the weekend has made me realise that more than ever.”

Goater went to see his daughter's nativity play on Friday morning and then rung Coppell to ask what time the coach was leaving for the trip to Molineux.

Instead Coppell told Goater that he had ‘been meaning to call' and that there was no need for the striker to travel with his team-mates.

“It came as a bit of a shock and I told the gaffer that I was disappointed about it,” continued Goater, who has started just two league games this campaign.

“But Dave Kitson returned to the side so somebody had to make way. It made me realise a lot of things about where I stand.

“I have a year-and-a-half left on my contract but maybe I won't be playing as much as I thought. It is frustrating and disappointing but in some ways it is relief.

“The realisation that my playing days may be coming to end makes it easier for me to start thinking about the future. In two years' time I am going to have to do something else for a living - and all I have done is football and it is something you can cling on to. This might make it easier for me, mentally, to start thinking about other things.”

But Goater is adamant that he is not going to give up on his playing career.

“But there is still a long time left on my contract and there could be a lot of games still to be played - if I get the chance,” continued Goater, top scorer last term with 13 goals.

“I am going to keep working hard in training and it is the old case of waiting for my chance and then making the most of it if it comes.

“Anything can happen in football, as this season is proving, so who knows what will happen.”

It has been a frustrating year for Goater from pre-season onwards. Although finishing top scorer last season, he hadn't been a regular starter after Coppell took over from Alan Pardew, the man who brought Goater to Reading from Man City.

The indifference towards Goater continued into this campaign, with the striker not being given 90 minutes in any pre-season game - including his testimonial against City.

Goater was third-choice striker behind Kitson and Nicky Forster at the beginning of the campaign, making just the odd appearance as substitute, sometimes for as little as two minutes.

He eventually got a start against Oxford United in the league cup, but even scoring a goal wasn't enough to earn him a league start.

An injury to Forster allowed Goater to start against Stoke in early October but in the following game against Leeds, he limped off with a recurrence of his calf injury - and hasn't appeared for the first-team since.

His fall from favour was compounded last week when he rejected a chance to compete in the Digicel Cup for Bermuda because Reading said he “should play a part in the Wigan game” - Goater was only an unused sub that day leaving him “ absolutely sick”.