Reading boss Jaap Stam has made it patently clear what he expects from his players at Carrow Road today.

''We need to get a result over there – that's it,' said Stam. ' It's as simple as that.'

While City seemingly have little to play for in terms of promotion or relegation, the latter still casts a shadow over Reading's season.

'Norwich still want to win their games, of course,' said Stam. 'And they know that we'll be going there for a win. They can wait and sit back and look for the opportunities that they get to go forward, and that can make it difficult.

'They're in a position where they don't need to worry too much. They know that we need to go for it, and that can make it a bit easier for them and a bit more difficult for us.

'For us, it's important that at certain spells of the game that we do better than we did in the week against Wolves.

'Every team in the league has its qualities and we've seen that in every game that we've played. We all know that we need to win, but it is difficult to get those wins – especially good sides.

'Every time we look forward to playing the game and we hope to get the result and to go forward… at the moment we can't seem to get it.'

Reading midfielder Dave Edwards knows the importance of heading into an international break with a good result under their belts.

'Norwich are another good team; they played well down at the Madejski,' he said. 'It's going to be another tough game – we just need to find that winning formula from somewhere.

'It's not easy when you're on this sort of run, it's hard to find the confidence. As I keep saying, we're running out of games and we need to start picking up results.

'We have to do it on Saturday as well, we can't be going into the international break right down amongst that bottom three and looking over our shoulders.

'It's a huge game for us. The players have to do everything in their capabilities to be right for Saturday. Everything has to be done right to give us the biggest chance possible on Saturday.

'I think the whole club needs a win from top to bottom – the fans, the staff, the players… everyone is desperate to get that win and three points.'