Reading boss Paul Ince has revealed that he is weighing up bringing in a sixth loan player into the squad.

Signing five on loan over the summer, a sixth would mean that one has to miss out in each matchday squad due to EFL regulations.

However, with the transfer embargo still in full swing, the club are still limited to loan deals and free agents.

Reading Chronicle:

Speaking exclusively to the Reading Chronicle, Ince said: "Now you get to the January window coming up and you think ‘I’ve seen five or six players that I like, but I can’t buy anyone.’ The only way to do it is by getting rid of someone, but we can’t sell our best players because we need them.

"I could foresee this coming in January, so I had to make sure we had the whole squad that I knew I could rely on because I wouldn’t be able to change it as much as I would have liked to come January.

"The biggest bonus for me was getting Shane Long and Andy Carroll in, the right type of people who understand the situation and help the others understand that it is going to be a fight.

"The most positive thing for me in the first half of the season is that we’ve kept our spirit, our core and our togetherness. Losing Josh [Laurent] and Andy [Rinomhota], they were a big part of that, but to replace them and still have the same buzz, we’ve got a real togetherness even though we’ve changed the team drastically.

Reading Chronicle:

"Not a lot is going to change in January, but it would be nice if we could bring one or two new faces in. The thing is we have an average wage cap, so taking two or three youngsters out [of the squad] wouldn’t really do anything for us, or bring in the quality of player we would look to bring in.

"Ideally, we would be looking at somebody with six months left on their contract so the club can pay them up and become a free. We could probably do a bit of business there, but that’s our only chance. We’ve got five loans at the moment: I’m still thinking about doing a sixth loan. Obviously with six loans, one has to miss out but that’s how it is, if you can get someone in on loan who is quality and will improve your team, why would you not do it?"