Lucas Joao joined Reading from Sheffield Wednesday in the Summer, but the Portuguese forward hasn’t lived up to expectations in Berkshire.

The 6’4" striker is notorious for being inconsistent. At times at Hillsbrough, Joao would wow fans with overhead kicks and little flicks, and then go and blaze the ball into Barnsley.

He’s always had the ability of a top Championship goalscorer but never the form to really make him stand out.

Having joined Reading for an undisclosed fee in the Summer, he would’ve been hoping that a fresh start would see him establish himself in England.

But he’s barely played for Jose Manuel Gomes’ Reading, who face a real threat of relegation to League One this season.

The Royals slipped into the relegation zone with a 1-0 loss at Bristol City last weekend, having scored 11 goals in as many games in the Championship this season, conceding 17.

Gomes needs goals and unfortunately for him, Joao’s form is on a downtrend. He scored on the opening day for Wednesday this season, before moving to Reading and scoring in his first two games for them.

Since then however, Joao has continued to be a starting figure for Reading but has failed to score in his last nine appearances.

He’s been dropped in the last two games, where Gomes has opted with a front-three rather than a two, with Yakou Meite, George Puscas and Joshua Barrett.

Reading now have a two week break before they host third-place Preston, and Gomes will have plenty to mull over and to work on in that time to try and drag his side out of the red.

Joao went through stages like this at Wednesday, and will no doubt turn his fortunes around at some point this season.

His career so far has made for hard watching at times - a player so full of potential and still relatively young at 26-years-old, but who could easily fall through the ranks of English Football is he doesn't find his feet soon.

Right now though he’s underperforming and he’s paid for it with his starting spot. He’s got two weeks now to show Gomes why he should be in the starting 11 to face Preston later this month, and will need to seize any opportunity he gets.

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