Williams, 25, underwent knee surgery in the summer and has only played the last three fixtures as he battles back to fitness.

Now Garath McCleary is set to hand boss Nigel Adkins a massive boost after an operation on his back in the close-season.

McCleary, 27, featured in two practice matches over the past week and is in contention to make his first appearance of the campaign at Cardiff City tonight (7.45pm ko)..

Fit-again Shaun Cummings, 25, could also feature in the Championship clash in South Wales having gone under the knife to cure a knee problem back in August.

With Jem Karacan close to a return after a year out with a serious knee ligament injury, Danny Guthrie back in training after a calf strain and Anton Ferdinand recovering from a tweaked hamstring, Adkins could have plenty of options for a tough run of fixtures ahead.

But USA international Williams says players need time to get up to speed and reach full match fitness.

He told the Chronicle: “If we can get some injured players back and find some consistency I think we can start looking up the table again.

“But some of those injured players have been out a long, long time and they cannot perform miracles.

“Jem Karacan has been out for more than a year, Garath McCleary was out for a long time and I have played only a few games since coming back.

“You are not at the right fitness levels because the only way to become match fit is to play in lots of matches.

“It’s great to have these players back because it makes our squad stronger, but supporters shouldn’t put any pressure on those players coming back.”

While the return of injured players will be a welcome sight for Adkins, there was bad news on the injury front this week after Hope Akpan was ruled out for three months after dislocating his shoulder while on international duty with Nigeria.

Perhaps more of a concern for Adkins is Reading’s poor form that has seen them lose seven of the last 11 matches in all competitions to slip to 14th position in the Championship.

Royals face a potentially season-defining week with back-to-back away fixtures against Cardiff then Norwich City the following weekend.

Royals’ confidence is also on the floor having lost 1-0 at home to Charlton Athletic in their last fixture before the fortnight’s international break.

And Williams believes Reading must learn from the mistakes they made in the frustrating loss to the Addicks.

“We started well with a lot of energy and possession, but the final pass was missing and we lacked quality in the final third of the pitch,” admitted the former Hoffenheim star.

“We were on the front foot then conceded a goal. Like in the last few weeks, Charlton got a cross into the box and the smallest guy on the pitch scored with a header.

“Nobody was marking him, he could even have taken another touch.

“Like we know from last season, when we concede a goal at home it’s tough to break down the other team because they defend well. Sometimes it’s like running against a brick wall.

“The longer the game goes on we don’t seem to keep calm enough, we try and force a goal but end up losing.”

Williams also acknowledges that Reading must score first at Cardiff City to stand any chance of winning the game.

“It’s so important to score the first goal, especially in this division,” he added.

“We’ve proved that ourselves by scoring three or four goals in a games we have won.

“But at the moment we are just not coming back if we go behind, I don’t know why that is, but we must sort it out.”

Former Royals Adam Le Fondre and Sean Morrison look set to start for Russell Slade's Bluebirds tonight following the pair's switch to South Wales in the summer.