Here are the key points from Mark Bowen's press conference ahead of Saturday's game against Derby County at the Madejski.

Recent form

"I have been disappointed. I've seent the work that these guys do on the training ground.

"It is not going to stop me, I'm a manager and a man who is glass half full. After the first four or five games I said we've got to be aiming for the play-offs because why would any supporter want to hear any different?

"I look at the squad we've got and I think yeah, we can.

"You're going to have periods of loss of form, players are injured and certain decisions do not go our way.

"At the end of a difficult week last week we've still had two away games which we have picked up points from."

Injuries

John Swift

"It looks like John Swift is going to be available at the weekend. He's pain free and has had a significant number of training sessions to prepare him for the game.

"He'll want to play every minute of every game but wiht so many games coming up we have to factor in the risk factor of throwing him straight in.

"I fully expect him to be available and play some part on Saturday."

George Puscas

"We thought he was going to need an operation which would've kept him out for three months.

"He seen a specialist, he's going again tomorrow to see the same specialist.

"The inital thinking is that if it settles down and improves slightly like he thinks it then he'll get away with having injections and strapping it up."

Matt Miazga

"Last Friday he thought he had pulled his hamstring in one of the warmups.

"He has a scan on Monday which came back neutral, nothing on it. It was pleasant in that way but he can still feel it when he makes certain movements.

"Matt being Matt is telling the physios to not rule him out for Saturday.

"It's Thursday now, he hasnt trained with us today. Whether he rocks up tomorrow and trains, I'll have to make a decision based on that."

Young players 

"As individuals, I'm looking at times to see more from them, in terms of their work rate out of possession. 

"When they've got the ball at their feet they are special young players.

"Form can go up and down, I can accept that as they are young players. I have to get more consistency into them as team players to think when we don't have the ball they got to be standing up to it.

"I've got the rely on them to give a certain percentage."