BRIAN McDERMOTT will make changes to his Reading side for Tuesday’s trip to Huddersfield Town (7.45pm).
This fixture is the second Royals face in the space of just six days and the boss is mindful of the strain a congested run of games could have on the squad.
“We have got another game on Tuesday and we have got to travel a long distance, so I need to make sure I do best by our football club in the next two games,” said McDermott after his charges were held to a 2-2 draw by Fulham on Saturday.
“We have got guys who are training on the pitch now and some will play on Tuesday, good players and they will give themselves that opportunity to put themselves forward for the Friday game (v Crystal Palace in the FA Cup) as well, so we will look at that and assess the team.
“I have picked the team for Tuesday and then we will see how it goes and how it goes as a performance and we will try and get the right outcome.
“There will be changes on Tuesday.”
One of those unlikely to feature at the John Smith’s Stadium, however, is Hal Robson-Kanu.
The Wales international netted both Reading goals on Saturday afternoon but was to play no further part after picking up an Achilles injury which forced him off at half-time.
Another expected non-starter is Matej Vydra.
The on-loan forward remains sidelined with a hamstring problem and only returned to training on Friday, McDermott revealed.
He added: “Vyds (Vydra) is not really training. He trained (on Friday) for the first time and will train Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Thursday and then hopefully he will be fit for Friday.
“It’s a knock on his (Robson-Kanu’s) Achilles. I’m not sure he will be right for Tuesday, but hopefully for Friday.”
The Reading manager went on to explain how he is yet to sit down and talk about a new contract with Robson-Kanu, who took his recent scoring tally to three in as many games with the weekend’s brace.
The 26-year-old will become a free agent upon the expiry of his existing deal in the summer, and there will most likely be no shortage of potential suitors willing to snap up the player should fresh terms not be agreed between Robson-Kanu and the club before then.
One side understood to have a keen interest in the attacker is Premier League outfit Swansea City.
McDermott, though, has made his feelings on the matter perfectly clear, saying: “Nick (Hammond) has spoke to his agent and he knows exactly how I feel.
“He was mentioning about leaving it to the summer, which is obviously Hal’s prerogative.
“Every game he has given me everything and he has given me everything since I have been here, so you can ask him the question yourself.
“Everything he does and whatever happens will be with my blessing, but it would be nice if he made the decision that we have got something special going on here and we can do something special and he decides to stay.
“I talk to Hal every day, and he knows how I feel and his agent knows exactly how I feel and if we could get to some kind of place, even if it is in the summer, where he decides that this is the place to be and we have got a really good chance then who knows what might happen because he has got a massive allegiance to us as a football club and has done so well for me in the past – and Reading Football Club.”
