Kevin Doyle could rejoin the squad and James Harper is set to start despite having stitches in a foot wound.
Aston Villa defender Wilfred Bouma is a major doubt after suffering an ankle injury while on duty for Holland.
Gabriel Agbonlahor is expected to shake off a calf injury and fellow striker Luke Moore is back in the squad after recovering from a shoulder problem.
Reading (from): Hahnemann, Federici, Murty, Ingimarsson, Bikey, Duberry, Sodje, Shorey, Little, Sidwell, Harper, Gunnarsson, Oster, Hunt, Lita, Long, Kitson, Seol, Halford, de la Cruz, Convey, Doyle.
Aston Villa (from): Sorensen, Taylor, Bardsley, Hughes, Mellberg, Cahill, Laursen, Ridgewell, Bouma, Samuel, Agbonlahor, Petrov, McCann, Barry, Davis, Berger, Young, Carew, Maloney.