JOHN Swift has told Jaap Stam he is over his injury and is ready to return to the starting line-up at Barnsley this Saturday (3pm ko).

Swift has been sidelined with a suspected hamstring problem, though a scan proved inconclusive.

Nevertheless, the summer signing from Chelsea has been left on the bench for the last four fixtures in all competitions, including a 2-1 win against Ipswich Town and 0-0 draw with Birmingham City in the past week.

Swift did make a cameo appearance as a substitute in the past two fixtures, but Royals were desperately lacking the creative spark he brings to the side.

Now fans are eager to see Swift return to Stam’s staring XI, and the cultured midfielder insists he is over his injury scare.

“I think I’m fully fit now,” he told the Reading Chronicle. “I’ve had four of five proper training sessions so it’s all going well.

“I think there are so many games in the Championship that throwing me straight back into the team after a couple of training sessions would have been far too early.

“Obviously, I have to respect what the physios say and what team the manager wants to pick.

“All I can do is keep working hard in training, and hopefully I will get back in the team soon.”

However, Swift is determined to force his way back into the team for Saturday’s clash at Oakwell against Barnsley, who sit third in the Championship table.

He declared: “I feel like I’m definitely ready to start games now. I feel fully fit and we’ve got a few days to rest before the next game at Barnsley. Hopefully I will be in the team on Saturday.

“I’m not sure what the injury was really. Nothing came up on the scan so it wasn’t anything serious, though it needed taking care of.”

Tuesday night’s 0-0 stalemate against fourth-placed Birmingham extended Reading’s unbeaten run to five matches in all competitions.

Swift, who came on in the 72nd minute, stated: “I thought we did well. We put loads of pressure on Birmingham but we couldn’t take our chances.

“I thought we dominated the whole game and when I came on it felt quite an easy game to play in.

“But it was hard to break Birmingham down. They sat quite deep so it was hard to play through them.

“Saying that, if we hard taken our chances I think we could have won the match.”

He added: “You come up against a lot of teams like that in the Championship, especially when they know how we like to play.

“But if we keep going and keep playing the way we are we will definitely start to win these types of games.

“It’s going well and all the boys in the dressing room are really positive. Although we didn’t win on Tuesday, picking up a point was important, because Birmingham are a great team. A draw and clean sheet was well-deserved.”

Tuesday’s point moved Reading up one place to 10th in the Championship table, though they will have to be at their very best this Saturday to nullify a Barnsley side which won 4-0 at Wolves on the same night.

And with top-of-the-table Huddersfield next to visit the Madejski Stadium on Saturday week, Swift accepts Royals face a defining week ahead.

“They are two hard games, but they’re all hard in the Championship,” he stressed.

“But playing a team in form like Barnsley at their own stadium is going to be very tough.”

Injuries are mounting for Royals boss Jaap Stam ahead of the trip to Oakwell with Joey van den Berg and Yakou Meite both ruled out of Saturday's clash.

Reading also travel to Brighton next Tuesday night in the third round of the EFL Cup (7.45pm ko).