After failing to beat bottom of the table Sunderland last time out, Reading fans will feel as though they need at least one more result to secure their Championship status.

The Royals have had a very tough campaign that saw them part company with Jaap Stam in late March with Paul Clement the man tasked with keeping them up as his replacement.

Since his arrival, performances have been mixed but he did pick up valuable wins against QPR and Preston to seriously boost their survival hopes.

Yet, after last season's heroics, where the Royals reached the play-off final, it's fair to say this season has been a massive disappointment.

Here we look at three things we've learnt about Reading...

Since Clement has come in he has picked up seven points from five games, which, whilst it's not amazing, is more than they had under Stam, who was averaging under a point a game.

Going on that, if Clement had arrived earlier, they wouldn't be worrying about relegation.

It's understandable why the board wanted to keep Stam after the success of last season but it was clear very quickly that there were problems this time around.

They should've been more ruthless and replaced the Dutchman earlier.

Reading conceded 64 goals last season and they've conceded 63 so far in this, so in that sense there's not much difference.

The clear issue has been at the other end of the pitch, with the Royals 20 short of last seasons total.

Injuries to the top scorer Yann Kermogant haven't helped, nor has poor recruitment. Jon Dadi Bodvarsson has chipped in with seven and done okay, but Chris Martin has been a very poor signing.

They also need the central midfielders to chip in with more than they have. Dave Edwards hit double figures for Wolves 12 months ago but has just three for Reading.

It's hard to say that Reading have underachieved this season. They have simply had a poor season with far too many players, and the former manager, not hitting the standards they'd previously set.

Was that year a fluke? Are the players just not good enough? These are the questions that Clement will have to answer and fans should anticipate big changes this summer as he looks to create a side that can compete closer to the top.