READING FC will have to overcome a series of stumbling blocks to nab Phil Parkinson from Bolton Wanderers.

Reading’s former promotion-winning campaign is the strong favourite to replace Paul Clement, who was relieved of his duties last week.

But a number of problems could stand in the way of his potential return to the Madejski Stadium.

It is believed Parkinson feels a sense of strong loyalty to Bolton’s staff and players following an ugly pay dispute.

The Chronicle’s fellow Newsquest paper, the Bolton News, today carried a story where Trotters chairman, Ken Anderson, denied the club desperately needs to off-load players and staff in January to avoid an even deeper financial crisis.

Bolton’s players have not been paid for the past 10 days and it needed the Professional Footballers’ Association to step in and subsidise 50 per cent of the money they were owed for November.

It is understood Parkinson, who is on a one-year rolling contract, does not want to be viewed as jumping ship during Bolton’s struggles.

Reading, though, may be able to overcome the problems by increasing their offer of compensation to soften the blow.

It could turn into an attractive offer for the Lancashire club who would likely welcome the chance to reduce their wage bill in the midst of their well-publicised cash-flow problems.

And while Parkinson remains loyal to the Trotters, the 51-year-old would undoubtedly find the opportunity to work with a bigger budget at Reading an attractive one.

Parkinson won promotion to the Championship in 2017 with Bolton, but neither he nor his coaching staff have received their ‘survival bonus’ for keeping them up last season with a dramatic 3-2 win over Nottingham Forest on the very last day when former Royals striker Adam Le Fondre was among their goalscorers.

News of Parkinson’s possible return to Reading has sparked a mixed reaction from supporters.

A source close to Bolton said: There is definitely interest from Reading and I believe his agent has spoken with the club.

“He has done a very good job at Bolton. He is a figurehead and has managed to stabilize things during really tough times.

“He won’t want to leave Bolton in the lurch, but opportunities like this may not come up very often.”

Parkinson overtook Luis Castro as the bookies’ favourite after the Vitoria Guimaraes boss snubbed Royals last night to remain in Portugal.

Another Portuguese boss, Vito Pereira has today joined a long list of potential candidates, with some media outlets suggesting Reading are keen to speak with the 50-year-old Shanghai SIPG manager.

Out-of-work bosses Steve Bruce and Slavisa Jokanovic are also in the running, as is highly-rated Wycombe manager, Gareth Ainsworth, who lives in the Reading area.

Royals this afternoon confirmed caretaker manager Scott Marshall will be present for a pre-match press conference at Hogwood Park tomorrow ahead of Saturday’s trip to Rotherham United (3pm ko).