STEVE Clarke says he will take advantage of his squad depth and ring the changes for tomorrow's Capital One Cup clash with Everton.

The Royals boss has played a strong side in the opening two rounds of the competition but is ready to give some of his squad players a chance to shine.

Reading have lost just once since the opening day of the season and Clarke insists his weakened side will be competetive against the Premier League outfit.

“I’ve got a lot of squad players who need to play so there will be a significant amount of changes,” he said. “A lot of people have played a lot of football but you have to remember that we brought in 11 new players over the summer.

“As a manager I thought it was important to find a consistency with my selection quite quickly. We’ve managed to do that and that’s important.

“But now, as the games mount up, there can be a change here and there.

“For the Capital One Cup there will probably be more than one or two changes. There could be a number of changes for that game. But the team we put on the pitch will be more than competitive.”

Paolo Hurtado and Alex Fernandez are likely to make their first start, whilst Hal Robson-Kanu could feature after a knock ruled him out of the trip to Bristol City.

Competition for places is fierce at the moment and Clarke has challenged his players to take their chance.

He added: “I have to keep the players involved and make sure they are enjoying what they are doing on a day to day basis.

“No senior player that I’ve ever come across like to be left out of the starting XI, I want that to continue. No player likes to be left out of the match day squad and I want that to continue as well.

“So I expect when I leave these people out that they show me on the training ground that their attitude is right and, when they do get their chance to play, they have to perform.

“If they are not training well, not working well, not preparing mentally from week to week then they will under-perform when I put them in the team

“And if they under-perform when I put them in the team, then their next chance could be a long time coming. So this is the mentality that they have to have.”