Derby County are not the only team in the Championship set to be hit by a points deduction from the EFL as Reading are also looking likely to be punished.

Whilst the Rams' total deduction looks likely to be 21 points due to the 12 already taken off because of administration, Reading's is going to be less severe and perhaps one they can battle back from.

A severe breach of the EFL's profit and sustainability regulations means that a deduction of between six and nine points is set to fall on the Royals, which would drop them into the relegation places of the Championship.

Clubs are not allowed to record a loss of over £39 million over a three-year period and the most recent set of accounts for the club showed they made an operating loss of £43.5 million for just the 2018/19 season alone, per GetReading.

A deduction will be a real setback considering the progress made on the pitch in recent weeks, and Veljko Paunovic has commented on the situation for the first time since it was made public.

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"Conversations with the EFL are with our senior board and I'm not in them, and I have been informed we're still in conversation with the EFL," Paunovic said in his pre-Middlesbrough press conference, per Matt Joy.

"I can only focus on what we can control."

The Verdict

This will be a really frustrating situation for the Serb who obviously just wants to focus on what's going on on the pitch.

Reading fans knew that something like this was coming for a while though thanks to the owner's reckless spending and it's just come at the worst possible time after three good results in the league.

The best case scenario here is that only six points are taken away from the Royals and that would leave them in the relegation zone but it's a salvageable situation.

The good thing for Paunovic is that he was able to strengthen his squad before the points deduction scenario came about, so he should be easily able to fight his way out of the relegation battle and back up the table in due course.