Reading FC are eager to build on their 2-0 midweek win over Birmingham City when they take on Bolton Wanderers at the Madejski Stadium today (3pm ko).

Goals from Yakou Meite and John Swift sent Reading into the Carabao Cup second round where they will face Watford.

Royals have not won in the league since their 1-0 victory over Preston in April.

Paul Clement's men have lost their first two league games of this campaign and are languishing at the bottom of the Championship table.

Royals' boss has a number of injury concerns ahead of the match.

Mo Barrow and Yakou Meite are both doubts after picking up injuries in midweek.

Former Aston Villa midfielder Leandro Bacuna has a slight ankle problem but should be okay to play.

Adrian Popa is back in training however, the Romanian is not expected to be fit in time.

Welshman Chris Gunter and Dave Edwards are also out, while Callum Harriott and Jordan Obita are still sidelined with long-term injuries.

Today’s Championship clash sees the return of former Reading skipper Phil Parkinson who played 425 times for the club, scoring 24 goals.

Speaking at his press conference on Thursday, Clement, said: “Phil Parkinson played for Reading for a long time, I remember watching him here when he was captain.

“They (Bolton) were even closer than us to going down last season, they left it really late to get that goal.

"But they've started really brightly with a fantastic first away win at West Brom.

“Was it a surprise result? I saw the game and West Brom had a lot of the ball but Bolton had the cutting edge.

“From our point of view, performances haven't been bad but we haven't got any points whereas they have.

"I'm really pleased we're at home and we got our season up and running on Tuesday with that comfortable win the Carabao Cup, now we've got to back it up in the league."

He added: "Only us and QPR haven't got a point yet, but when I was at Derby we had four points after five games and were 19th in the table. I was under pressure.

"We then lost one of the next 19 so after 23 games we were top.

"So I've experienced this before, you have to put things in perspective.

"In this division you hit form, go on a good run and you come from nowhere really quickly."

Bracknell News:

Ex-Royals legend Phil Parkinson.

Parkinson is sweating on the fitness of Sammy Ameobi. The former Newcastle man picked up an injury against West Brom and has had an injection to try and heal it.

But former Reading striker Adam Le Fondre will not be involved following his shock move to Sydney FC.

Key stats:

  • Reading have not lost to Bolton in over 10 years
  • The Royals are unbeaten in their last eight games against the Trotters, winning three and drawing five
  • Biggest win against Bolton 7-1 in January 2014
  • There have been 35 meetings between the sides with the Royals winning 13, drawing nine and losing 13.
  • Reading’s last league win at the Madjeski Stadium came against Preston with Clement’s men winning 1-0 in April.

Predicted line-up:

Bolton have made a great start to the season having taken four points from their first two games.

However, Reading desperately need the three points in order to kick start their league campaign.

Therefore I think Paul Clement will go with an attacking 4-4-2 formation with Marc McNulty lining up alongside Jon Dadi Bodvarsson.

Liam Moore could also keep his place after the defender put in an encouraging performance against Birmingham.

As a result I have gone with a back four of Omar Richards, Paul McShane, Moore and Andy Yiadom.

Mo Barrow and Yakou Meite are both injury doubts, but Meite picked up a lesser injury so could play a part.

Therefore I have gone with Meite and Clement as the two wingers.

The Chronicle is predicting a 2-1 win for the Royals this afternoon.

What do you think the scoreline will be?