"My boys will be up for Leeds United test" - Reading boss builds up visit of Marcelo Bielsa's side

Reading boss Mark Bowen says his Royals side will be "up for it" when Leeds United visit the Madejski stadium on Tuesday evening.

Marcelo Bielsa's team make the trip south once again as they look to continue their impressive run of form in the Championship which sees them sit second ahead of the clash.

The Whites are unbeaten in their last six league outings, with Patrick Bamford handing Leeds a 90th minute winner at Luton Town on Saturday afternoon.

Reading themselves fell to a 1-0 defeat at Brentford as Bowen saw his men taste defeat for the first time since he took charge in mid-October.

The 55-year-old, though, believes his side will be looking for a response in Berkshire as they aim to pull away from the relegation zone.

“If it had been a win, loss or draw against Brentford, we knew that we’d be able to go into the Leeds game saying, ‘look how far we’ve come’,” Bowen said.

“I know that we have come a fair way. So we need to make sure we put in a performance on Tuesday night. My boys will be up for it, no doubt.

“We had a fantastic atmosphere at Brentford with the fans packed in behind that goal, trying to make it like a home game for us. So we’ll be expecting another good atmosphere at Madejski stadium on Tuesday night.

“We will be prepared for it, no doubt about that. We will have a game-plan going into it, and we will make sure that we rest and recover.

“You don’t want to look too far ahead, but even before the Brentford game I thought that the Leeds game would be a good barometer for me and the team and the squad.

“I know that if we get the desire, work-rate and aggression, which we have to have in our play, then we will win more games than we lose.”