My Reading FC Team For... Brighton At Home

So after defeats at Wolves and Newcastle, Championship leaders Brighton pitch up at the Mad Stad... Not the easiest of weeks for Jaap Stam. Still, our new manager is unbeaten at home, with a pair of wins coupled with a pre-season draw with Premier League Bournemouth so there's reasons to hope we can cause a bit of an upset on Saturday. So who should Stam turn to? Here's how I'd set up the side.

Subs: Jaakola, Watson, Wieser, Williams, Meite, Fosu, Kermorgant

Formation

Nothing too radical here. The more players have the chance to get used to the system the better it's going to be in the long-term so I'm not going to faff about changing things for the sake of it.

Goalkeeper & Defence

You know it, I know it, Stam knows it, van den Berg is not the answer at the heart of the defence. Rumours have Liam Moore inching closer to a move but it looks as if that won't come in time for Saturday. So faced with a team who've banged in six in two games I'm going back to basics here and sticking a proper defender in with Jake Cooper. Yes he had a bit of a weak display against Plymouth but against two 6 foot plus strikers in Glenn Murray & Tomer Hemed, I just want a player who can do the basics and win some set pieces. Otherwise there's not much choice really. I'm not Obita v2016's biggest fan but he's serviceable and I'm not sure this is the game to stick Tennai Watson in at the deep end.

Midfield

While he's not great at centre-back, I do appreciate van den Berg's defensive qualities so I'm shifting him into the spot just in front of the defence. He brings some experience into the middle and can put in a strong tackle so is in a good place to start moves going forward. I like George Evans so I'm shifting him a little further forward with John Swift also keeping his spot. Danny Williams is the odd man out simply because I'm not convinced he's got a long-term future here and if someone has to be sacrificed for some bite, for me it's the American.

Forwards

McCleary and Beerens have both shown they can hurt teams so no need to change things here. The one man I am switching out is Yann Kermorgant who's played three games in a week and hasn't looked particularly effective in any of them. With Joseph Mendes now back in full training I want to see what he can do leading the line and trying to hold the ball up.

Bench

It feels a tad harsh leaving poor Deniss Rakels out but I want Tariqe Fosu to be given his spot just to add a surprise factor and maybe earn a spot in Stam's plans. New signing Sandro Weiser comes straight on to the bench.

So that's how I see it but what do you think? Let us know your team below.