Joe Royle could welcome back Chris Makin when Reading visit Portman Road on Tuesday night. The defender trained on Monday after suffering a hamstring problem in the match at Crystal Palace and will have a fitness test before the Royals game.

Darren Bent will also have a fitness test after missing Monday training with a tight hamstring. Better news is that Marcus Bent will be OK after training without any problem from his hamstring injury, picked up on Saturday at Hillsborough.

Tommy Miller (hamstring), Hermann Hreidarsson (gash above knee), Finidi George (sore hip), John McGreal (back), Darren Ambrose (knee), Alun Armstrong (broken wrist) and Mark Venus (knee) are all still on the sidelines. Ambrose and Miller may be OK for the weekend game against Brighton.

John McGreal had been looking like he was making a swift return, however Joe Royle now says that he is one of the longer term absentees: “John's going to see a specialist again in a couple of days. It's confounded us, it's taken a little bit longer than we expected. He's seeing a muscular expert rather than an orthopaedic expert now.

“It's not turning round as quickly as we hoped for or expected and he's struggling to train at the moment.

“John has been influential when he has played. He was outstanding when I first came here, thinking about his performance in Liberec and around then. He was one of the first names on the team-sheet, a big influence, a strong centre-half who heads the ball clear.

“With Finidi we've had his hip scanned. It didn't show an awful lot but he's still sore, so we're looking at alternatives to see if it's scar tissue or a muscular problem, but at the moment he's making very little progress.”

With so many senior players out with injuries Town have seen a succession of youngsters come in and do well: “They've done outstandingly well. I thought Matt Richards was excellent, Bowditch when he came on again on Saturday confirmed his promise and then there's the two Darrens.

“I said a couple of weeks ago that Darren Bent probably needs a rest at some stage but we can't afford to rest him at the moment.”

Matt Bloomfield is left out of the party for the Reading game as he is away with the England U20s squad this week despite the World Youth Championship in the United Arab Emirates having been postponed due to political considerations.

Royle has been impressed with third placed Reading's fine season: “I think they have done outstandingly well. They have been the surprise package in the division. I saw them lose to Wolves last week in a game where they should have been four-up in 20 minutes. They lost very unfortunately.

“All praise to them, I can see why they are doing well. They've got a fantastic work ethic, they are exceptional on corners and freekicks, and they have a great team spirit. Well done to them and Alan Pardew.”

Despite this being the last week that Premiership sides can use the ‘club in distress' rule to sign Town players Royle says that there is nothing currently in the pipeline: “We haven't received a bid for anyone.”

The Town manager concedes that his side have been less impressive at home than they have away: “We've done really well away from home. We had a great spell at home when we weren't doing so well away but now it's gone the other way again. We've got to improve our home form.

“We've got to keep winning. There's no point in me talking about what Wolves will do or what Forest will do. It's just down to us. If we keep winning it will take us there. It's a very important game and they are the surprise package, but I know why.”

Reading made an audacious attempt to sign West Ham's Paolo Di Canio on loan ahead of Tuesday's game, however they were unsuccessful.

Adie Williams, involved in the incident which saw Pablo Couñago receive a red card in the fixture at the Madejski Stadium earlier in the season, misses out at Portman Road due to injury.

Also out are John Mackie who is suspended while Adrian Whitbread is also injured. Youngster Ahmet Rifat could be involved in the senior side for the first time.

Town squad: Abidallah, D Bent, M Bent, Bowditch, Couñago, Gaardsøe, Holland, Makin, Magilton, Marshall, Naylor, Pullen, Reuser, Richards, Westlake, Wilnis and Wright.

Photo: Action Images

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