Reading have had an awful start to the season under manager Jose Gomes and find themselves sitting in the relegation zone after 11 games.

The Royals have high expectations as does their manager after spending money on a number of different players over the summer, including Lucas Joao, George Puscas and Rafael Cabral.

It's been a rocky start to the season, but the last month has really seen the Royals struggle with the team suffering five defeats in their last six games. This run of form has put some real pressure on Gomes, and the international break gives him the perfect opportunity to work on the team.

Here's THREE issues that Reading need to work on over the international break...

Clinical finishing

One of the key things that the Royals have to work on is their clinical finishing, it's vital that they're able to do this in order to be successful in the next few weeks of the season.

Puscas is key to this, and what he needs is confidence, and lots of it. In the last few fixtures, he's had glaring opportunities which includes two open-goal misses when the game is in crucial parts of the ninety.

If they can get him and Yakou Meite hitting the back of the net, then maybe they can go on and look to challenge higher up in the league.

Defensive basics

This is one of the key things that the manager must look to improve in the next few weeks if they're to earn any sort of points in the future.

The goals conceded to Fulham, Bristol City and Swansea were atrocious and ones that Reading would have been truly disappointed to have seen hit the back of the net.

The marking, the positioning, it has been terrible and supporters have began to question some of the defenders, including captainLiam Moore. Improvements are needed, and the next few weeks are vital.

Full-back positioning

This is one of the parts of the game that has given the Royals a lot of benefits but has also given them so many negatives in a defensive sense.

Omar Richards and Andy Yiadom have been brilliant for Reading but in an attacking sense, and they need to improve defensively as when they go forward, they don't have the correct cover or positional sense to track back and stop the counter-attacks.

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