Reading manager Jaap Stam has been speaking to the club’s official website, ahead of this weekend’s clash with Barnsley at the Madejski Stadium.

Stam confirmed his side would still be without Joey van den Berg, Paul McShane and Callum Harriott, who are all recovering from injury, for the game against play-off chasing Barnsley.

The Dutchman, who has been nominated for January’s manager of the month award, did not seem too fazed by the club’s current injury problems when talking to the media, he said:

“That’s why we like to have quite a big squad, with players that are very competitive.

“With the amount of games that we have, there’s going to be suspensions and injuries and the players, who aren’t playing at that time, need to fill in and need to do well.”

Stam confirmed McShane and van den Berg would be out for another “couple of games” whilst Harriott was going to be a little bit longer with a hamstring injury.

The Royals dropped to valuable points last weekend, drawing 2-2 with Ipswich Town, leaving them third in the Sky Bet Championship and five points behind the automatic promotion places.

Those in Berkshire are in good form and won four from six games in the Championship across January, landing their manager a nomination for manager of the month.

Reading fans… Are you confident your club can pick up another positive result this weekend? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!