Royals complete their league campaign with a trip to play-off challengers Derby County on Saturday (12.15pm ko), looking to end a run of nine games without a win.

It is almost certain to be a season of major upheaval at the Madejski Stadium, with senior players out of contract and Steve Clarke looking to completely revamp his misfiring front line.

Karacan is one of those out of contract at the end of the season and the Royals skipper believes the club he has been at since the age of 14 must get things right this summer if they are to avoid being in another relegation battle next season. He said: “We need to sort everything out in the summer and come back with a bang as this club deserves to be in a better position than it is,” he said. “Since I’ve been here I haven’t been in the position that we are at the moment.

“It’s killing me, it isn’t right and I feel sorry for the fans. I can only apologise.” He continued: “There are a lot of people out of contract. We have to get it spot on in the summer and go from there. We need more pride.

“We have got to look at ourselves and be better. That’s all you can do. We need to be better on the pitch.

“The season is finishing too quickly for me, I’m feeling stronger and fitter and I’m gutted the season is ending but on the whole, it’s probably best if the season gets done quickly so that we can regroup.” Karacan revealed he was given an initial contract offer this week by the club, but was coy on the details.

The Royals skipper is keen to remain at the Madejski Stadium but wants a contract that is right for both parties.

With a difficult trip to the iPro Stadium on Saturday, the 26-year-old is determined to take three points from that contest before resuming negotiations.

“There’s discussions going on,” he said. “Things are moving forward. We’ll have to wait and see what happens but there’s something on the table for myself.

“It’s up to my agent now as I have to focus on our final game of the season.

“I don’t want to be thinking about other things before Saturday so we’ll get that done then go from there and speak to the club. I’ve been here a long time, I love the club. I’ve seen it develop, I’ve been to the Premier League and Wembley twice with Reading.

“This club deserves better than it’s getting at the moment so we must go to Derby positive and we owe it to the gaffer to prove ourselves. We want to finish with a win.

“They’re a top team but we’ve been there and got a win before so we need to take that and use it. There’s pressure on them, there isn’t on us.

“We know we’re safe but we’ve got to put pressure on ourselves to deliver a good performance for the fans as we owe it to them.

“It’s been a tough season for them but we need to finish with as many positives as possible for the fans.”