Lucas Joao wasn't the most prolific of strikers at Sheffield Wednesday in his time with the club, but there was an element of surprise when he departed Hillsborough in the summer of 2019. 

Joao first signed for the Owls back in 2015, but has struggled to nail down a regular place in the starting XI under a number of managers.

He scored in Wednesday's opening game of this year's campaign against Reading, but left the club shortly after in favour of a move to the Royals. 

It is believed that the Berkshire-based club paid a fee in the region of £4.86m to secure a deal for Joao, who they hoped could fire them up the Championship table.

But it's safe to say that Joao's spell at the Madejski Stadium so far hasn't been the one he would have originally hoped for. He has two goals and two assists to his name which isn't the worst record across the 11 games he's featured in.

The 26-year-old has had a number of injury problems though which have seen him not feature for the Royals since their defeat to Bristol City in early October.

When he has played, he's looked sharp, and it seems as though he's potentially a goal away from finding a much-needed confidence boost heading into the season-defining festive period.

It certainly won't be an easy task for Joao to walk straight back into the starting XI though, with Mark Bowen now in charge of Reading, after taking over from Jose Gomes who signed Joao during the summer transfer window.

Bowen would have been impressed with the partnership between George Puscas and the returning Sam Baldock in attack, and Joao will know that he's going to have to hit the ground running as soon as he returns to action for Reading.

Reading are currently sat 17th in the Championship table, but are starting to show in recent weeks that they could certainly mount a challenge for a top-half finish this term.

But for that to happen, Mark Bowen will need all of his key players available to make competition for places as high as ever, and Joao is certainly one of them.

He'll be keen to make up for lost time when he does return to the first team picture, and will be wanting to prove to Sheffield Wednesday that he can find some consistency at this level.