There is, of course, something very romantic about a run to the latter stages of the oldest competition in the world.

The FA Cup was the pinnacle of English football for decades and even though the financial muscle of the Premier League has diminished some of the importance in the eyes of a lot of clubs, no supporter would turn down a trip to Wembley.

With the fourth round tie against Cardiff City around the corner, many Royals fans have been debating the team selection. 

Should Bowen play a young side, keep senior players fit and risk going out - or go for it on two fronts?

Unfortunately if you take a step back and ignore the romanticsm of the FA Cup and take a practical look at the situation, playing a strong side is incredibly risky.

Even looking through the bluest of tinted glasses - not many people can invisage Reading making a run to the latter stages of the FA Cup.

Of course it's possible and we saw Reading line up in the semi finals against Arsenal at Wembley in 2015 - but the likelihood of a repeat of this feat is miniscule, realistically.

At the point of writing - Reading currently sit ten points behind Preston North End in sixth spot, with two games in hand on the Lancashire side. 

We have seen in recent weeeks that the league table can look very different after a run of victories. 

Admittedly with Reading facing a tricky run of fixtures, the play-off spots could be a distant dream if Reading can't produce the level of away performances we saw over the festive period.

However we could see Reading upset the odds and pick up a promising points return from the next few weeks.

For me, that seems like a much more realistic proposition than Reading reaching the latter stages of the FA Cup.

I'm not saying that Reading never have a chance of winning silverware - just look at Wigan in 2013.

But, at this point in the season, a play-off push does seem like the more realistic of the two outcomes. 

That's why I believe that the FA Cup should be put on the back-burner and Bowen should look to put all his eggs in the Championship basket.