Reading up for Blues cup clash

Reading's players are determined to see off Birmingham in Tuesday's FA Cup replay and progress to the latter stages of the competition.

Royals boss Steve Coppell has insisted that promotion to The Premiership remains his priority, and has rested several key players in previous FA Cup clashes, but they have already taken the scalp of West Brom in round three and given Birmingham an almighty fright at The Madejski Stadium.

Striker Dave Kitson, an integral part of Reading's success in The Championship, is confident that there is the quality within the squad to cause another upset.

"It is an ambition of a few of the lads to see how far we can go in this competition," he told Sky Sports News.

"We're a great set of lads so we can definitely go into this game and get something from it."

Shane Long, who scored against Birmingham on a rare start this season, believes that the hunger of the fringe players who are given FA Cup run-outs is one reason why they are still involved at this stage.

"It was just a dream come true really to play against a Premiership team, and especially to score against them," he reflected.

"We just go into it and give it everything we've got. We're lucky he gives us a chance, but it's up to us to take it and hopefully we can make the most of it."

Midfield duo Steve Hunt and Ivar Ingimarsson also revealed that they were excited to be testing themselves against Premiership opposition.

"We want to go into this game and show people we can play good football and live on this level," said Iceland star Ingimarsson.

Hunt added: "The players who have come in have got us this far. We've already beaten West Brom so it can only be good for the whole club in general."