Shaun Goater was on the verge of a sensational return to the Bermuda national side ? only for his Reading boss to put an 11th hour halt to the plan.

The Bermudian frontman made a complete u-turn on his decision not to play in the upcoming World Cup qualifiers, agreeing to return to the Island for this weekend's first game against Montserrat.

His club Reading sent a fax to Bermuda Football Association last Wednesday confirming Goater would be released to play for Kenny Thompson's side, only to send another hours later refusing permission.

Royals boss Steve Coppell was unwilling to release the striker, who scored yet again for Reading in Saturday's 1-0 victory over Gillingham, as it would mean Goater missing two domestic fixtures ? at home to Sheffield United this coming Saturday and away to Preston next Tuesday.

"We have been in discussions with Shaun for some time and he wanted to play in the game," confirmed Thompson last night.

"Unfortunately because of the situation, Reading have not allowed him to come anymore."

Thompson speculated that it was Goater's recent solidifying of his place in Coppell's side that accounted for his decision to overturn what many saw as a snub to his country.

Goater originally turned down a chance to take part in the qualifiers for Germany 2006 as he was struggling to make an impression with his new side after a ?500,000 summer transfer from Manchester City.

But after bagging four goals in his last three games, including his 200th league goal against Derby two weeks ago, the 6ft 1 in Bermudian is now a regular starter for the side and the 'putting my club first' argument clearly no longer holds water.

Thompson admitted that if Bermuda were to inflict a hefty defeat on their British Overseas Territory opponents this weekend there would be little point in calling Goater back for the return leg in March, but said that the striker would definitely be part of his plans if Bermuda were to advance to the second round where two games against El Salvador, ranked 97th in the world, await in June.

"If Shaun could have come back it would have been icing on the cake," continued Thompson.

"Everyone knows his qualities as a player and it was good to hear that he was keen to play for us in the World Cup qualifiers. But until it was a done deal I didn't see any point in getting too excited about it, nor was it something that we have talked about with the players ? it would have been premature.

"And as we saw when we got the second fax from Reading, it hasn't come off anyway. I am confident that the players we have in our side are more than capable of doing the job asked of them against Montserrat."

Thompson added that because this weekend's match was outside FIFA's international fixtures calendar, the BFA could not call for a domestic ban ? as Australia did for Leeds' Mark Viduka ? even if they wanted to.

Ironically, if the BFA had not switched the tie from its original date of February 18, as they did to cash in on a bigger weekend crowd, then Goater would have been obliged to play due to FIFA rules, or face a five-day ban which would have taken him out of Saturday's clash with Gillingham ? although BFA general secretary David Sabir insisted that the association would not have taken such action.

"We aim to use our best players in the qualifiers and Shaun is one of the best players we have on the Island, make no mistake about that," Sabir said last night.

"We were hopeful he would return but it was not something that Steve Coppell would allow to happen because of Reading's fixtures ? and that is a decision we have to respect.

"Shaun has said he is keen to play for Bermuda in the qualifiers and we are hopeful he would do so during this campaign."