David Moyes has not ruled out bringing Joleon Lescott back to Everton if Manchester City decide to sell.
The England centre-half has been sidelined at City in recent weeks by the emergence of Serbia youngster Matija Nastasic.
And despite the acrimonious nature of his move from Goodison Park to the Etihad Stadium three years ago, Lescott would be welcomed back by his former manager.
Moyes said: "If Joleon wanted to come back - if I thought we needed him - I'd be delighted to have him back.
"If he was available he'd be someone I'd maybe show an interest in."
The Scot was angered by Lescott's attitude while his ?22million transfer was going through, but he said: "I can understand why the player wanted to go.
"When Joleon left, Everton were in a different place to where we are now. Everton look more likely now to be at the top end than they do now."
Royals supporters have begun to question McDermott's methods following a frustrating start to life back in the Premier League.
But McDermott hopes Saturday evening's glamour game with United proves a timely reminder of just how quickly he has transformed the Championship winners' fortunes since taking charge three years ago.
He said: "When we were second from bottom in the Championship, if you said to each and every single one of our supporters, 'You're going to be on nine points after 13 games in the Premier League and you're going to be playing Manchester United at 5.30pm on the telly on a Saturday rather than get relegated - would you take that?', they probably would.
"Let's have a sense of realism here. This is where we're at as a club.
"What we've done in the last three years is pretty incredible.
"We've punched above our weight financially.
"But we've got to keep doing that and find another way of finding results and winning and we've done that over the last few years and we need to do that in this league."
McDermott suggested it was the younger fans, who had known little but relative success, who needed a history lesson on a club who have spent nearly their entire existence in the lower leagues.
"You might have a younger generation of supporter who has seen nothing but relative success in the last 10 years," he said.
"Then you have an older generation of supporter who knows historically where the club has come from.
"Fans are entitled to their own opinion on the team and that's what makes football what it is."
Reading do have a game in hand over most of their relegation rivals but Tuesday's defeat at Aston Villa left them four points adrift of safety.
Teams around them are also starting to pick up points, putting the pressure on McDermott's men to do the same quickly.
"Does it worry me? There's not a lot I can do about that," he said.
"All I can do is make sure we get our performances right and our own results right.
"There're 75 points to play for, a lot of points to play for.
"We need to do our stuff, really. I'm sure we'll get a break soon."
A consolation place in the knockout stages of Europe's second-tier competition is now the best City can hope for from their disappointing Champions League campaign.
The Premier League champions have failed to win any of their first five Group D matches and will bow out of the tournament after their final match against Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday.
Even finishing third in the group will be a tough task. City will need to beat the group winners in Germany and hope Real Madrid, also already through to the last 16, can do them a favour against Ajax.
Mancini said: "Yes, we want to stay in the Europa League - this is normal.
"It is another competition, another trophy to try to win.
"Maybe when it starts in February it is not so important and could be a problem because we play more games, but if you arrive in the semi-final or the final it becomes an important competition for us. And for this reason we want to stay in Europe."
Mancini knows the club owners have been disappointed by the Champions League failure but remains confident of delivering a successful season.
The Italian has spoken to chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak about the situation.
Mancini said: "He is happy with the way we are going in the Premier League, and we have the FA cup to come.
"Obviously they (owners) are so disappointed about the Champions League, and this is normal because our target when we started the competition was to get to the knockout stage - and anything can happen when you arrive there.
"But we didn't do well and for this reason I think they are disappointed but they understand it takes time to succeed in the Champions League."
It is City's second successive failure in the Champions League but Mancini feels he need look no further than this week's opponents for inspiration.
German champions Dortmund also crashed out at the group stage last year but have been inspired this time around.
He said: "Last season, for instance, Borussia Dortmund went out at the group stage with only four points.
"But this season they are looking like one of the teams who can win the competition.
"One year can change everything. We made some mistakes on the pitch but this is the Champions League."
The Red Devils head to Reading on Saturday evening knowing victory will ensure they are top of the Premier League when they take on City in the first Manchester derby of the season at the Etihad Stadium on December 8.
Some critics cannot quite believe it, nor that United have a seven-point advantage over third-placed Chelsea, given that their performances at times have been quite poor.
They have gone behind on an incredible 13 occasions and Michael Carrick described Wednesday's win over West Ham as "far from a classic".
However, Ferguson is not joining the criticism.
"I don't think the form has been that bad to be honest," he said.
"But when you are manager of this club, you have to go through that analysis about Manchester United not being as good as they used to be.
"We are still top of the league so we must be doing something right."
And they could soon be boosted by the return of defender Nemanja Vidic.
The United skipper has made just 13 appearances since straining a calf muscle at West Brom in August 2011, which started a chronic run of fitness problems.
In Basle last December, Vidic ruptured cruciate knee ligaments, which ended his entire campaign.
Then, just five matches into the new season, the 31-year-old experienced a tightness around the knee that required him to undergo more surgery, and even raised fears about whether he would ever return to his best.
However, Vidic has been more upbeat about his comeback, indicating at the weekend that he was ready to rejoin first-team training.
And whilst the final decision has been left to the 31-year-old, Ferguson is not ruling out the prospect of Vidic returning for Wednesday's Champions League encounter with CFR Cluj at Old Trafford.
"It would be nice to play him on Wednesday," said Ferguson. "I wouldn't be afraid of that.
"He has returned to training and done all his work but he needs matches."
After the problems of last season, the Argentinian has been restored to prominence at the forefront of City's attack this term.
He began the campaign with four goals in as many games but then hit a barren spell and has scored just three since.
Two of them came against Aston Villa a fortnight ago but Tevez has had to settle for a place among the substitutes for the past three games.
Mancini said: "No, I'm not disappointed about this form recently.
"About Carlos I can say nothing (critical) because when he plays, even if he is not 100 per cent, he's a fighter, he puts everything he can on the pitch, so I can't say anything against him.
"But it is clear that we want our strikers to be scoring goals and at this moment Carlos is not strong and for this reason he was on the bench in the last three games.
"But on Saturday that could change, or in the derby. He's not 100 per cent because he has played many games and that is why at the moment he is not so good."
City take on Everton at the Etihad Stadium this weekend before travelling to Germany for their final Champions League group game against Borussia Dortmund.
They then face rivals Manchester United in an eagerly-anticipated derby the following Sunday.
One player Mancini is hoping for more from is playmaker Samir Nasri.
The Frenchman has not made a consistent impact since joining City in a ?24million move from Arsenal last year.
The 25-year-old was also left out of the squad for the midweek trip to Wigan as a precaution against a calf problem.
Mancini said: "In my opinion we are talking about a top, top player here.
"If he wants he can change every game, but I think he can do better.
"He has played some good games for us but he can do better because he has everything.
"I don't think he has struggled.
"We are talking about a player like Nasri or (Yaya) Toure or (David) Silva - we always think they can change every game they play because they are capable of doing that.
"But sometimes in spells when we are playing a lot of games in a short space of time, like at the moment, a player can be tired.
"Samir also had a problem with his calf in the last two games but I wait for him to play always a fantastic game because he can do this."
The Manchester clubs have opened up a gap at the top of the Premier League with Chelsea now six points behind second-placed City.
That has led to some seeing the title race as a fight between City and United but Mancini is not writing off the prospects of the Londoners.
When asked if Chelsea can still compete, Mancini said: "Yes they can. Why not?
"They had done a good job until recently. They have a strong team and strong mentality.
"The season is long and in February, when the Champions League starts, everything can change."
