PAUL Clement covered a host of Reading FC topics ahead of tomorrow’s Championship clash at Sheffield Wednesday (3pm ko).

Royals’ boss will be searching for his first away victory since replacing Jaap Stam last month.

And he says he is desperate to secure Reading’s Championship status for another season as quickly as possible.

Clement’s men are 19th in the table and five points above the drop zone with three matches remaining.

Clement also spoke at length about the frantic finish to last weekend’s 2-2 draw with Sunderland, the dangers of facing the Owls at Hillsborough and taking advantage of longer preparation time.

In addition, he gave an injury update on Tommy Elphick and the other crocked players, hailed Liam Moore for paying for supporters to travel to Hillsborough and gave his thoughts on the issue of safe standing at grounds.

Finally, he also spoke at length about growing up in Crowthorne, his affinity to Royals and his early plans for next season.

Here, in full, is Clement’s press conference from Hogwood Park in full:

Clement on Sheffield Wednesday:

“The games have been coming thick and fast. Now we’ve had time to reflect a bit and more importantly get some good preparation going into Saturday.

“We have three really important games left and we’re taking nothing for granted.

“We’re in a good position in terms of the other teams in and around trouble, but we’ve got to get over the line now and finish off the job.”

On the frantic finish against Sunderland:

“It wasn’t a comfortable game from my point in view – they never are – it was particularly open.

“But what I did like was they gave everything to try and win the game ta the end. That’s a good mentality to take forward into future games.

“If we can instil that philosophy into the players, that never-say-die attituded to keep pushing to win games, we’ll pick up a lot of points.”

Players were out on their feet at the end:

“It’s unusual to see that. It was like a cup game with both teams trying to win it then maybe it’s extra time as well. They were exhausted at the end, but it showed how much effort had been put in by both sets of players.”

Reading Chronicle:

Jon Dadi Bodvarsson looks shattered at the end of Reading's 2-2 draw with Sunderland last weekend.

Sheffield Wednesday having nothing to play for:

“Players have always got something to play for because of the scrutiny that goes on from fans on social media and also from the media. They are always in the spotlight and they have to perform.

“Whether they are not in a relegation battle or pushing for promotion can also be dangerous. When that pressure isn’t there players can loosen up and play with a sense of freedom which can improve performance.

We have to expect the best from Sheffield Wednesday.”

Injury update:

“We are where we were last weekend. Joseph Mendes has done some part training, but he hasn’t trained every day. Tommy Elphick has done some work with the first team and the conditioning staff and Paul McShane continues to work on his conditioning, but he hasn’t joined the group yet.

“There’s a chance for Tommy. He’s missed time and you need to recover from the injury then to get up to the fitness required to play a high-intensity game.

“That’s where he is now, he’s got to build that up before he’s got a chance of being involved.

“Leandro Bacuna is still suspended so we’re going to have the same squad of players going into the game.

“We’ll put 11 out to start and hopefully finish which hasn’t always been the case since I came here. We’ll have a bench that gives me the option to make changes if we are trying to win the game.”

Reading Chronicle:

On-loan defender Tommy Elphick, right.

Liam Moore paying for a supporters' coach to Hillsborough:

“Anything where there’s a connection between the players and fans is an excellent thing.

“The numbers were low in the south stand for that first game, but they had doubled for the second game.

“If it keeps doubling in size it won’t be too long before that end is full and the noise is going to get really, really loud. It’s a fantastic thing.”

Thoughts on safe standing:

“The first thing is it has to be safe. If it is, then it can improve the spectator experience and the atmosphere in a stadium then that’s a positive.

“It can also be a more affordable way to get people into stadiums which is another positive.

“I think the way it’s going it won’t be long before we start to see stadiums introduce that again.

“It happens a lot in Germany. During my six months in the Bundasliga I can tell you the atmosphere in the stadiums is absolutely amazing, it was bouncing.

“With safe standing you have the freedom to move a little bit and the atmosphere behind the goals where there is a lot of safe standing in something special.”

Settling in at Reading:

“It always takes a couple of weeks to find your surroundings, different routes into work, where the office is and who is who.

“But this is my eight or ninth club and what I have learned over the years is that things become normal quite quickly, whether it’s Real Madrid, Derby, Swansea or here.

"The training ground and stadium become your life very quickly and I feel like that now.

“When my dad (Dave) played for QPR we lived in Crowthorne for a few years and I went to primary school in this area.

“My brother (Neil) came to Reading on loan for three months when he was at Chelsea and Tommy Burns was the manager here.

“I’m from the south east and I’ve always liked the club. I played against them at youth level a lot of times when I was at Chelsea and Fulham.

“Reading has a tradition of bringing young players through which I like and in more recent years when I was at Swansea and Chelsea I always enjoyed coming here.

“The stadium is fantastic, I really like it.”

Backing of the fans:

“The welcome I got was very nice and I appreciate the support they are giving the players which is more important because they can help them in difficult moments in the game when they are tires. That extra push from the noise of the stadium can really help them.

“Fans want to see the team playing well and winning and over the last three games they haven’t seen us lose yet.”

One eye on next season:

“No, but when I say no you always have to think about pre-season and the organisation and that kind of thing.

“But in terms of players, no. We have time to deal with that. The window isn't open yet and it doesn’t shut until the end of August, so there is time to address that, we have to priorities.”

Have you spoken to the owners about budgets and things?

“No, not yet.”

Turning things around at Reading:

“After five games we’ve gone okay but there are three very important ones to go and things can change very quickly.

“You can have a quick momentum switch if we don’t get the right result and other results go against us. We’ve got to remain very focussed.

“This job is not done. l we have to pick up some more points or we’re going to be in a very nervous situation come the last game which we want to avoid.

“But I’d rather be in our position than any of the other teams who have doubts over staying up. But we can’t be complacent.”

Reading Chronicle:

Reading travel to Neil Warnock's promotion-chasing Cardiff City on the final day of the season.

Can you get your first away win after defeats at Aston Villa and Fulham?

“They were hard games, and we made Villa even harder with going down to 10 men with an hour to play.

“From a coach’s point of view I thought some of our play against Fulham was really encouraging, though we didn’t get anything out of the game.

“But they were two very difficult fixtures. Now we have Sheffield Wednesday and Cardiff away which won’t be easy either.

“Sheffield Wednesday on their day are very dangerous as they just showed when they won at Hull (1-0) who have been banging goals in at home.

“They have good options especially up front. They can play with two big men, they have Jordan Rhodes and Fernando Forestieri, they’re a threat.

“It’s a hard game but we’re in good shape and we’ve prepared well, so it will be a hard game for them as well.”