Reading head coach Jaap Stam has told the Basingstoke Gazette that he is happy for the international break coming when it did.

The Royals have struggled after coming so close to getting promoted this season and while fans have debated about why they have been so poor at times, injuries have factored in and made the situation worse. Key players such as Yann Kermorgant, Stephen Quinn and Garath McCleary have all had time on the sidelines since the start of the season and Jordan Obita has also been ruled out for the rest of the season.

And so while fans may have spent this weekend very bored at the lack of football, Stam is very happy about the international break. He believes that it has come at the right time so some of his players can recover from injuries and he thinks that his team will come out stronger at the end of it.

He said: “If you’re winning a couple of games in a row, you want to keep on playing, keep that momentum going,”

“But with the injuries we’ve got, now we have some time to work on getting some of those players back.

“The players can have a couple of days off, some will go away with their countries, others who are in we will work with within the system and the injured players we’ll work with to try and get them fitter.”

When the international break has ended, Reading will return to action with a match against Wolves.