Reading have had a poor couple of results recently, having picked up one point from games with Birmingham and Barnsley in the last week.

The Royals will be hoping that they can come up with the three points when they travel to Stoke on Saturday, with Mark Bowen returning to a club he used to be assistant manager at.

It's a big game in terms of the relegation battle at the bottom of the league, and here are THREE Stoke weaknesses that Reading must exploit this weekend...

Home confidence

Stoke have had an awful time at the Bet 365 Stadium of late, and Reading need to make sure they don't let the Potters start with a spring after they defeated Luton in midweek.

Yes, it was a good result but the Royals will pose a different type of test and will hope that if they can manage to score an early goal, Stoke's heads will drop which could lead to an all important victory for this Reading side.

Goal-keeping situation

Jack Butland has been so poor this season, and teams are taking advantage of it by trying to take as many shots as they can and from different distances. Reading have to do the same, and make sure that they are able to get more shots on goal then they have in previous games which could lead to scoring chances.

No tackler in midfield

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The midfielder looks weak in terms of a real defensive player to sit in front of the back four and not even think about attacking during the game. This is a huge problem for Stoke when they come up against sides who have real quality in terms of attacking playmakers.

What Reading have is a very talented player in Ovie Ejaria. The Liverpool loanee is exceptional at dribbling with the ball and he has to make sure that he uses the space to his advantage in order to create chances for Reading.