FT: 1-0 Reading.

25' GOALLLLLLLLLLLLL! Chris Gunter!

Reading lead as Gunter gallops clear from a fine Oliver Norwood pass and he finishes like a striker to put Reading ahead and surely into the next round of the League Cup.

17' A break down the Colchester left comes to nothing as Andrew Taylor clears it at the far post.

HT' 0-0

ET 11' BAR! What a chance for Reading. Simon Cox releases Nick Blackman but with the ball bouncing, Blackman can only help it onto the crossbar and it's scrambled away for a corner.

Cox then heads the corner over from eight yards out.

ET 5' Bad news for Reading as Dominic Samuel pulls up as he was making his way back from an offisde position. Aaron Tshibola comes on in his place.

ET 1' We're back underway...

FT: Little in the way of late drama and we're heading for extra-time here.

90' SIX minutes added on.

83' Dominic Samuel and Simon Cox come on for Reading in place of Hal Robson-Kanu and Orlando Sa.

68' Chance! Reading fail to properly clear a free-kick from wide and Gavin Massey's half-volley from the edge of the box goes narrowly over.

63' A big let-off for Ali Al-Habsi. He drops a routine catch and with the ball bouncing five yards out in front of an empty goal, Paul McShane is the first to react and he clears the ball from danger.

The ex-Wigan keeper won't want to see that again.

58' Two chances for Stephen Quinn but he's twice denied by Sam Walker. It was a good move involving Hal Robson-Kanu and Orlando Sa that created the chance but Quinn couldn't finish.

Walker has been very impressive for the hosts but he injured himself during that save and has now been replaced by Elliot Parish.

55' A quiet opening to the second half, with Colchester holding their own at the moment. 

46' We're back underway...

HT: Colchester United 0-0 Reading.

The Royals have had the better chances through Danny Williams and Nick Blackman but it remains all square.

44' Save! Ali Al-Habsi makes a comfortable save from a long-range Richard Brindley shot.

37' Hal Robson-Kanu goes into the book after committing a foul in retaliation to a tackle that went unpunished on Stephen Quinn.

30' Chance! Reading go close again and it's Danny Williams this time. A slick passing move by the Royals sees Hal Rbson-Kanu set up Williams, and his outside of the foot effort is tipped wide by the impressive Sam Walker.

24' Wide! Nick Blackman with a half chance for Reading as he meets Stephen Quinn's cross but he wildly slices his volley wide.

15' It's died down a bit here after a quick start by Steve Clarke's men. A pretty even last 10 minutes.

3' Chance for the Royals! Nick Blackman goes through one-on-one but Sam Walker makes a fine save to deny the Reading man It was at a good height for the keeper, Blackman should've given him no chance.

A bit of early pressure from Reading comes to nothing and Colchester survive.

19:45 We're underway... URzzzzzzzzzz!

19:30 Reading going through the last of their warm-up here,in their African Violet away shorts. It's still raining lightly but not too bad and hopefully the slick surface will suit the away side.

19:05 The players are making their way out onto the pitch for the warm-up. There's a few Reading fans already inside the ground to greet them.

Credit to all that have made it here after terrible traffic on the M25.

18:45 The team news is in and Reading make four changes from the side that lost at Birmingham. It is a fairly strong side from Steve Clarke and he'll be confident of getting a result tonight.

Ali Al-Habsi, Anton Ferdinand, Hal Robson-Kanu and Andrew Taylor come in for Jonathan Bond, Michael Hector, Jordan Obita and Aaron Tshibola.

Reading: Al-Habsi; Gunter, McShane, Ferdinand, Taylor; Norwood, Williams, Quinn; Blackman, Robson-Kanu, Sa. Subs: Bond, Hector, Obita, Tshibola, Samuel, Cox, Stacey.

Colchester United: Walker; Briggs, Edwards, Wynter, Gilbey, Moncur, Massey, Eastman, Bonne, Sembie-Ferris, Brindley. Subs: Parish, Wright, Kent, Szmodies, Vincent-Young, Ambrose, Holman.

18:30 Hello and welcome to live coverage of Reading FC's first round League Cup tie at Colchester United.

The U's currently reside in League One and drew their opening game of the season 2-2 with Blackpool on Saturday.

Steve Clarke has been tipped to make some changes for tonight's game but we understand that a good amount of the squad that played against Birmingham will be involved.

It's a dreary evening here in Essex and this one will go all the way to penalties if the match can't be decided in the 120 minutes.