Jaap Stam is expecting another difficult season in the Sky Bet Championship

Jaap Stam says winning the Sky Bet Championship title is not Reading's aim this season and has played down expectation that they will finish in the top-six again.

The Royals boss takes his side to Queens Park Rangers on the opening day of the season on Saturday and the former Manchester United defender is expecting another tough campaign.

Reading just missed out on promotion to the Premier League last term - losing to Huddersfield on penalties in the play-off final - and he insists they are not guaranteed to improve on that without hard work.

Chris Gunter was part of the Reading side that lost in the play-off final last term

"I don't think they (other teams) see us as a rival for winning the league, but that's not our aim," he told Sky Sports News.

"We are not saying we need to win the league or need to end up in the top six. Of course we want to, we want to win things, or go somewhere. As a sportsman you need to have that.

"But I don't know how the other teams are looking at us. We've warned them about what we can do. We're going to be working hard to do well again.

"We are always talking, in management and the players too, about what you learn in a season. You learn about the opposition teams you're facing, their quality, the way they're playing, how they're setting up. You learn a lot about how you need to approach the game.

Midfielder John Swift has signed a new contract at Reading this summer

"That doesn't mean you'll do better every time, but you try to improve yourself as a manager and prepare the team better. The players also know how the opposition is looking at you, maybe in a different way to last season. You need to be aware of all those things to get results."

Reading have so far signed three players this summer - Pelle Clement, Jon Dadi Bodvarsson and goalkeeper Vito Mannone - but Stam wants more bodies in the door before the transfer deadline.

He said: "We need a couple of extra players in to strengthen the squad in total. It's not about getting players in who can start straight away in the first eleven. You want to have a big squad and you want players who can fill in without any problems.

"It's been difficult. I'm not the person who needs to deal with all of that. I'm in talks with the owners, the technical director, and the CEO as well, on getting players in and everybody knows what type of players we need.

"It's not easy to get players in because of the market and the money that's being spent, and the wages players are asking for. So we need to find a way of getting players of a certain quality in that can make a difference for us."

Don't miss the start of the Sky Bet Championship season on Sky Sports Football, with Sunderland facing Derby from 7pm on Friday night, while Hull travel to Aston Villa on Saturday from 5.15pm