Football FanCast columnist Tatsuhiko Ina reflects on the fortunes of Leroy Lita following his freak injury at the start of the current campaign and wonders if the striker should return to the Madjeski.

Leroy Lita is near to returning but do Reading need him? With Doyle, Kitson and Long performing upfront, there is a feeling Lita may need to stay with Charlton until the end of the season.

Since Lita made his way to Charlton, Reading have won 3 and only lost 1 and Lita's fellow Reading strikers are contributing to the Royal's goal tally. Long is performing particularly well, since he has started 2 matches and scored one goal and poses a constant threat in and around the box.

Lita is certainly been struggling at Charlton and their form has been patchy since he has been there with one win in 5. He has failed to find the net in all his four starts and hasn't managed an assist. It's a far cry for a player who was scoring frequently in our reserves. Coppell obviously hoped a spell out on loan would see Lita recapturing his form but it hasn't materialised.

Some Charlton fans have clearly been disgruntled and suggest that Lita does not care about the game, and is not showing any effort leading the Addicks line. This will no doubt ring bells to Reading fans. He may not have been too happy heading to Charlton in the first place, since he seems to believe he should have a place in Steve Coppell's side.

Coppell has always suggests that he needs 4 strikers in the squad. He wants 2 to start, 1 on the bench, and 1 waiting in the wings. At the moment we are injury-free, but if any setbacks occur, Coppell may be facing a problem. Reading also boast young strikers such as Robson-Kanu on loan as well so we need to go back to the question; have Reading missed Leroy Lita this season?

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