Mark Bowen has said he is expecting a reaction from his side against Barnsley following a disappointing defeat to Birmingham City at the Madejski Stadium.

The manager takes his side to bottom club Barnsley on Wednesday night, before a trip to 23rd place Stoke City next weekend.

Bowen said: "The turnaround in games in this league means you look at the performances, you learn from the games, but you can't dwell on results.

"You've got to dust yourself down, point out to the players what we can do better and move on.

"The biggest thing for me to get across to the lads over the next few days is that although we didn't win at the weekend, as a group we are still looking upwards, forwards and focusing on how we can catch those teams above us and climb up that table.

"Things can change very quickly in this league and we've got to make sure, with two away games coming up this week, we get the points we all want.”

The manager confirmed that the squad will not return to Berkshire between the two clashes.

"We're staying up after Barnsley, because if we came all the way back from Yorkshire after the Barnsley game we wouldn't get back until the early hours on Thursday - which would mean we wouldn't get a lot done in training on the Thursday.

"And then we'd be getting back on the coach for a long journey back up to Stoke on the Friday. So we'll stay up in the Midlands on Wednesday night, which will allow us to get better work into them on the Thursday and Friday in preparation for the game on Stoke on Saturday.

"But firstly, I expect a reaction from my players when we play Barnsley on Wednesday and we won't look any further ahead than that.

"We'll bounce back from the defeat on Saturday, I'm sure. We have a good group of lads in the dressing room and they'll all want to come back strong on Wednesday.

"We were back on the training ground on Sunday morning, asking players to be a little bit braver in possession, more confident in the way we want to play.

"We have come together, and we are working hard on the training ground and I know they'll take on board the information we give them."