JAAP STAM says defeat to Preston North End last season will serve as a warning ahead of Saturday’s return to Lancashire.
Reading were soundly beaten 3-0 at Deepdale in March and currently sit below the Lilywhites in the embryonic Championship table.
But Royals make the trip in fine mood following Tuesday night’s 2-1 victory over Aston Villa at Madejski Stadium and Stam is keen to not focus too much on last campaign.
“We don’t say because we lost there last season, we need to win,” said Stam.
“Everybody knows that every game, especially away games, are very tough to win.
“Preston know how we play, they did last season and they did it very well. We need to work hard to get a result.
“We want to do that in a certain way of playing but if we can’t do that in the way how we want to play then we need to do it in a different way.
“That’s what we’re looking for, but we are warned by what happened over there last season.”
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Reading’s injury list is easing after a nightmare start to the season which saw Stam name only six substitutes for the opening day defeat to QPR.
Roy Beerens, Garath McCleary, Paul McShane and Joey van den Berg are all now back in action with Jordan Obita, Callum Harriott and Jon Dadi Bodvarsson expected to return in the next couple of weeks.
That would leave Yann Kermorgant as the only man on the treatment table.
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And Stam’s squad was boosted further this week with the arrival of versatile Leandro Bacuna from Aston Villa.
The Holland-born Curacao international was an unused substitute for Tuesday’s clash with his former club, but Stam says he is not necessarily a direct replacement for Danny
Williams, who departed this summer.
“Bacuna is the type of player who can play in several positions,” explained Stam. “He can play as a defender, in the midfield and sometimes as a winger so that’s very good.
“We’ve seen him play with Aston Villa in the Premier League. He has great stamina, but a lot of quality as well. That’s the type of player that we like to have in the squad.”
He continued: “He’s not a straightforward swap for Danny, no.
“Liam Kelly can play very well in that role too and other players.
“But if you want to maintain a certain level, I think you need to have a lot of players with a certain quality because throughout the season, players get injured.”
