Even though the Royals manager saw fit to omit the striker for the weekend’s Premier League fixture, Danny Guthrie is set to return against the Gunners.

With rumours of a bust up between Guthrie and McDermott denied by the manager, the former Newcastle player is set to face what looks set to be effectively the Arsenal second string as Wenger looks set to continue the tradition of using the trophy to bring through the youngsters.

Reading have no new injury worries ahead of the game on Tuesday night, with McDermott playing down any trouble between himself and Guthrie ahead of the game, saying "there was no bust-up. Danny wasn't selected to play," with Guthrie already forced to apologise to the club and manager this season after using twitter to air his views when previously not selected for the first team.

McDermott meanwhile has expressed delight at facing Arsenal for the first time as a manger, confiding "I'm looking forward to it, really looking forward to it.

"I was lucky, really, to be brought up at a fantastic club like that."

He also leapt to the defence of Wenger and the lack of trophies the club have won over the past few seasons stating  "I'm sure they want to win trophies - of course they do - but they always qualify for the Champions League, which is a phenomenal achievement in itself."