The Royals travel to the New Den knowing a defeat would leave them just four points above the Championship drop zone.

It has been dubbed as a “six-pointer” as Reading could move ten points clear of Millwall if they can secure their third league away win of the season.

Millwall head into the game in poor form but added Southampton centre-back Jos Hooiveld to their squad yesterday in a bid to bolster a defence that has conceded 19 times in six games.

The hosts head into the game on the back of five straight league defeats and just one win in 14 outings.

It promises to be 90 minutes that will heavily influence where Reading end up this season and Clarke declined to play the game down in the build-up.

“It is a big game for the club,” acknowledged the Reading boss. “I don’t think you can shy away from that. You have to be honest and look at your situation and say yeah, it is a big game for us.

“We suffered a real disappointment last week at Fulham as we got nothing from a game we should never have lost but hopefully we’ve regained that momentum at Cardiff.

“If we can take that into the Millwall game then hopefully we can pick up three points and start to move up the table which is what everybody wants.

“We have to start moving up the table. We’re trying to turn the season around and give our marvellous supporters a good second-half of the season.” Danny Guthrie missed Saturday’s trip to Cardiff, whilst Chris Gunter hobbled off midway through the first-half with a twisted ankle.

Both are doubts for tonight’s game along with Jamie Mackie. Anton Ferdinand and Hope Akpan remain sidelined.