Reading boss Nigel Adkins will welcome back Russian striker Pavel Pogrebnyak for Saturday's clash against Arsenal.

Adkins takes charge of his first game at the Emirates Stadium and will be delighted to have Pogrebnyak available after he served a three-match ban following his sending off against Wigan.

Fit-again trio Jimmy Kebe, Adam Federici and Danny Guthrie are also in contention to make the starting line up so Adkins has plenty of options, but Jason Roberts is still out with a hip injury.

Everyone seems to have returned safe and well from international duty, and although Adkins has not had much time to prepare for the game, he still thinks they are capable of getting a result.

"Our spirit can take us a long way," stressed Adkins. "We've got a great game coming up and we're going to relish that.

"It's an interesting challenge, some players won't get back until Thursday afternoon. It's a great challenge to pull all that together, but Andy and I are really looking forward to it.

"Reading have good players who fight for each other. We're going to scrap for every point. Forget about the future, we're concentrating on the here and now and giving ourselves every opportunity against Arsenal."

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