Reading boss admits 'all thoughts will be on League One' ahead of FA Cup clash

Reading boss Ruben Selles has admitted that 'all thoughts will be on League One' ahead of Saturday's FA Cup meeting with Fleetwood Town.

The Royals are sat ninth in the third tier after suffering a first defeat in four on Tuesday night at Stockport County.

However, with injuries impacting an already-threadbare squad, plenty of changes are set to be made for the visit of Charlie Adam's Cod Army on the weekend.

Speaking ahead of the cup tie, Selles spoke honestly about the current importance of the FA Cup to the club amid continued off-field turmoil.

"It is vital for the club to keep ourselves in League One so all the thoughts will be on League One," he admitted. "Even if we won three games in a row and were in a good position, and I think we are still in a good position today, players and staff have given everything, but the situation has not changed. The only thing that gives us a bit of an illusion in the table is because of the hard work everyone is putting in from inside to outside. We need to please the people that are doing that every single day, but the priority is the league and keep the team in League One. That will sustain the present and the future of the club.

"I try to always be clear and honest in my answer. I am going to give it a go and I think we have some young prospects like Ashqar [Ahmed] on the bench or players like Ben [Elliott] and Charlie [Savage] who can probably step onto the pitch on the weekend, but we also need to be sensitive with the players that have played four games in 10 days. I don’t want to put everything for them to make their fifth in a row and get some injury."

However, that does not effect Selles' desire to send supporters home happy and keep up the run of form at home, which ranks amongst the best in the country.

"It has been a really tough period in League One and we have some players who deserve a lot of minutes so we will make some changes in the team, but we will be competitive and try to win the game in front of our fans and continue our home form."

Reading do not return to League One action until November 9 with a Bristol Street Motors Trophy clash at Cheltenham Town upcoming on Tuesday, November 5.