PAUL MCSHANE and Garath McCleary’s involvement against Queens Park Rangers on Thursday night has been rated as doubtful by Reading boss Steve Clarke.
Winger McCleary travelled to Nottingham at the weekend but was ruled out at the last minute due to a slight hamstring problem while captain McShane was withdrawn with five minutes to play at The City Ground after a cut to the head.
And Clarke admits Royals could be without the pair for the visit of QPR to Madejski Stadium.
“McShane hasn’t trained for the last couple of days,” Clarke explained at his pre-match press conference.
“We’ll see how he is. He hasn’t trained yet so he would need to be a doubt for the match.
“He’s definitely a doubt for the match and Garath McCleary’s a doubt for the match.
“Garath had a small hamstring strain at the weekend which would also makes him doubtful for the game.”
Royals have picked up just one victory in their last seven attempts, a 2-1 home win over bottom of the league Bolton Wanderers, a run which has seen them drop from second to ninth in the Championship table.
But Clarke is refusing to get too downhearted by the recent results and is convinced his side can turn their fortunes back around.
“If anything my experience of football tells you that you have moments like this in a season,” he said.
“It can happen.
“Eight weeks ago the players were fantastic, the manager was fantastic, everything was going great.
“So eight weeks later, in the middle of a difficult spell, it doesn’t mean that the players have become terrible and the manager has become terrible.
“It just means it’s a difficult spell. We have to work hard to get out of it and I’m confident with the players that we’ve got here and the staff that I’ve got here we can do that.”
QPR’s trip to the Madejski will be screened live on Sky Sports on Thursday night (8pm kick-off).
