The Royals head to Valley Parade knowing victory will put them into the last four of the FA Cup for the first time in 88 years.

Bradford have forged a reputation as cup specialists after reaching the League Cup final in 2013 and beating Millwall, Chelsea and Sunderland in this season’s FA Cup.

The nation have fallen in love with the plucky underdogs but Clarke is keen to avoid becoming the next scalp, insisting his side head to Valley Parade full of confidence.

“What Bradford have achieved in the competition so far is fantastic,” said the Reading boss. “It’s up to us to go there and spoil the party. We’ve done well in the cup so far, no glamour ties but three tough games at Championship opposition.

“We are where we are and we deserve to be there. We look forward to the game and we travel with 100% confidence.

“We know what to expect, there won’t be any surprises. I watched them play Sunderland and they were excellent from the first minute to the last. They were much better than Sunderland on the day."

He continued: “Bradford got off to a great start and got the early goal. Even on a difficult pitch, the team that played the best football was them.

“It’s not all about grit and intensity, they have some terrific little footballers as well which we have to match. I think it’s going to be a terrific game.” Jamie Mackie’s late goal at Bolton ended a run of four defeats in five and Clarke admitted after the game that it was a massive goal for the club.

The manager believes his side have played well lately and have been unlucky in some of their losses – most notably against Nottingham Forest when two fantastic strikes put the visitors in control after Reading had dominated.

“I’m not so sure we’ve been getting the bounce of the ball recently,” he added. “The performance against Nottingham Forest was good but people from outside the club look at the scoreline and think it must’ve been rubbish.

“We’re not far away from being a very good team. I think everyone knows that. You look at the team and you see potential.

“I scratch my head a little bit that this team haven’t got more points on the board than they have. It’s a little conundrum for us but we go to Bradford very confident. We’re going there to win.”