Bristol City are looking to get back to winning ways on Good Friday and they will be boosted by the return of key midfielder Korey Smith.
As the Robins look to bounce back from defeat against Aston Villa and just a fourth loss in 23 Championship games, Smith is training "well" and is likely to be included for the must-win match against the Royals.
Indeed Bristol City need to win against Reading - kicking off at 12 noon - to keep their place in the play-off positions as a win for Middlesbrough over Stoke City later in the day will see them overtake Lee Johnson's side.
Smith, who travelled with the squad to Villa Park on Saturday, suffered an injury in the second half of the 1-0 win over Middlesbrough on April 2 while winger Callum O'Dowda has not featured since March 12 as recovers from a knee injury.
Assistant head coach Dean Holden gave the latest from the club at the pre-match press conference on Tuesday afternoon with goalkeeper Niki Maenpaa also edging ever closer to a return.
"Korey has trained well today," he said.
"O’Dowda is back on the grass now and out of the treatment room and is pushing for a recall pretty soon.
"Maenpaa is due back pretty soon as well. And apart from Frank Fielding we’re looking strong."
Our understanding is that O'Dowda is 7-10 days away from a return but Smith will be involved by Bristol City on Friday.
The side from Ashton Gate could create some distance over their challengers for a top six play-off place if Jose Gomes' team are bested at Ashton Gate, and Middlesbrough fail to beat Nottingham Forest at the City Ground.
Derby County also face a tricky game at Birmingham City the same day, and a win for the Robins could pile on the pressure ahead of their rivals playing.
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"We've tweaked our style since then [the first game at the Madejski Stadium] and we dominated possession on that day and did everything but score a couple of goals," explained the Robins assistant head coach.
"It was a really good performance in some ways but without any real cutting edge.
"They've got a slightly different manager there themselves and Jose brought some good players in themselves in the January window.
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"For us it's going to be a really tough game. They've got some real pace - [Nelson] Oliveira down the middle is a good striker and someone we've got to keep our eyes on.
"But we've got a few ideas and we hope to expose some weaknesses," added Holden of Friday's opposition.
