Reading manager Brain McDermott claims that he is working hard to strengthen his squad next month.

The Royals enjoyed a solid start to the Premier League season, but results have begun to drop off in recent weeks.

Their loss to fellow strugglers Southampton leaves the club to 19th position in the table, six points away from safety.

McDermott’s squad is largely unchanged from last season’s Championship winning campaign, but he admitted that with his options becoming limited he may have to delve into the market to avoid a relegation dogfight:

"We are always looking for new players, that is part of the job really as a manager," he is quoted by talkSPORT.

"Our scouting system is always trying to find players but we work with the players we have got and we don’t talk about the players we haven’t got.

"We will see what happens in January."

It’s thought that McDermott may be looking to reinforce his attacking options, with summer signing Pavel Pogrebnyak failing to transfer the form he showed with Fulham to the Madejski Stadium.

He could also target defensive cover, with Alex Pearce, who was impressive during the promotion-winning season, struggling to adapt to the top-flight.

The Berkshire-based outfit have been linked with out of favour Arsenal star Andrei Arshavin, but it’s thought that the Russian’s wage demands may scupper any potential deal.