Reading FC will look to bounce back from a disappointing midweek defeat as they travel to Ewood Park to face Blackburn Rovers in the Championship this afternoon.

The Royals let a two-goal lead slip on Wednesday night as they suffered a 3-2 defeat to Blackpool at the Select Car Leasing Stadium.

Before the calamitous night, the Royals had won five of their last six including a victory against Fulham at Craven Cottage and were one of the in-form sides in the Championship.

The night started well for Veljko Paunović and his men who found themselves 2-0 up within 21 minutes against the Seasiders as they looked to break into the top six for the first time this season.

However, Blackpool’s sensational comeback means the Royals go into today's fixture in 8th position on 19 points, two points off the play-off positions.

In a 400-mile round trip, Reading will take on Tony Mowbray’s Blackburn Rovers who have only managed to secure one point out of the last possible 12, sitting five places below the Royals on 17 points.

Rovers’ last outing saw them suffer a 1-0 defeat at QPR with Mowbray’s side unable to offer much of an attacking threat.

This is unlike Rovers this season who currently has the joint-fifth best-attacking record in the Championship, a sign that Mowbray's team normally gets things right in the final third.

Mainly thanks to Ben Brereton Diaz whose recent transformation has been inspired by his performances for Chile making him an overnight national hero in South America.

The forward is the second-top goal-scorer in the Championship with 10 goals, three behind Fulham’s Aleksandar Mitrovic.

The most recent meeting between the two sides came back in March when George Puscas' first-half goal was enough to give Reading a 1-0 home victory.

Paunovic will continue to contend with a number of injuries and this weekend’s game is expected to be too soon for former Rovers ace Junior Hoillett to return to his former club.

Dejan Tetek, Michael Morrison, Alen Halilovic, Tom McIntyre, Lucas Joao, Yakou Meite, Felipe Araruna and Andy Rinomhota are also set to be sidelined for the Royals.

Ex-Rovers captain Scott Dann will make his first return to Ewood Park after leaving for Crystal Palace in 2014. 

Mowbray confirmed Rovers will be out with Harry Pickering after he was forced off against QPR as well as long-term absentees Bradley Dack, Joe Rankin-Costello, Scott Wharton and Jake Garrett.

Lewis Travis is also a doubt for the home side as he was also taken off injured at Loftus Road.

Rovers have been inconsistent in recent weeks and Paunovic will be hoping his side can get back to winning ways and put Wednesday nights collapse behind them.