Boss Steve Coppell says the loan signings of Dave Kitson and Glen Little mean he now has the most competitive squad in his five years as Reading manager.

Kitson and Little are with us until the end of the season, and Coppell was pleased to be able to bring them back.

He said, "They're two players who left to go to the Premiership, so they are of Premiership quality.

"Neither have had successful seasons so they've got something to prove. To get fulfilment from this season they've got to be positive and strong with us now.

"They both have great affection for the place and it seemed the right thing to do.

"Neither of them have automatic places in the team and this is probably the most competitive squad I've had since I've been here. Picking the team is difficult now.

"All the strikers we had are of a similar style and Kitson gives us another option now. With Glen in wide areas, if he can touch anything like the form he had last time he played reguarly, that can only be a bonus.

"It's not about a grand design and recapturing glory days from a few years back. I speak to Tony Pulis fairly regularly and just detected we could possibly do something. The situation with Glen was obviously very similar."

Bet365 rate Kitson as an 11/2 shot to open the scoring at home to Ipswich this weekend, while Glen Little comes in at 12/1.