HORDES of Reading FC supporters flocked to Madejski Stadium for the Reading FC open day and kit launch.

Hundreds of fans and their families attended the free event at Madejski Stadium on Wednesday.

There was fierce excitement in the morning when Royals launched their new home and away kit for the 2016/17 championship season.

Hundreds of fans young and old then filled up the lower west stand to watch boss Jaap Stam put his first-team squad through their paces on the Madejski Stadium pitch.

After a spot of lunch, the time then came for supporters to meet the players, gather autographs and take pictures of their hooped heroes.

And Stam says he is pleased with the way the pre-season campaign has gone so far, despite a setback at AFC Wimbledon on Saturday.

“It was great to see the fans at the open day and for them to watch us train,” he said.

“I think everything has gone well up to now in terms of pre-season, how we train, work and what we have achieved.

“The work-rate has been great and the players are becoming clearer about how we want to achieve success.

“Each day they are understanding more about what we want from regarding our build-up play and pressing opponents.

“The friendly games went pretty well, although we lost the last one against Wimbledon.

“To be fair, we had a lot of possession and created chances and the two goals we gave away were gifts from ourselves.

“So up to now things are going okay. There are still areas where we need to improve but we’ll get there eventually.”

And he added: “It’s not going to be easy to turn it around in a couple of weeks so we keep on working hard.

"The players are growing in confidence and are willing to work for each other and the team to get maximum results.”

Meanwhile, Reading’s squad numbers for the new season have also been released, with Tariqe Fosu and Jack Stacey among those notably left out.

“We’ve got a big squad and the players are pushing each other which is what we need,” stated Stam.

Royals take on Premier League AFC Bournemouth in a friendly at Madejski Stadium tonight (8pm ko).

Full list of 2016-17 squad numbers: 1 Jonathan Bond; 2 Chris Gunter; 3 Jake Cooper; 4 Joey Van Den Berg; 5 Paul McShane; 6 George Evans; 7 Roy Beerens; 8 John Swift; 9 Joseph Mendes; 10 Deniss Rakels; 11 Jordan Obita; 12 Garath McCleary; 13 Reading Fans; 14 Dominic Samuel; 16 Oliver Norwood; 18 Yann Kermorgant; 21 Stephen Quinn; 22 Zak Jules; 23 Danny Williams; 26 Ali Al Habsi; 28 Danzell Gravenberch; 29 Josh Barrett; 30 Tennai Watson; 31 Anssi Jaakkola; 38 Liam Kelly.