Paul Ince has confirmed that Shane Long is fit ahead of Saturday's clash with Watford.

The 36-year-old limped off the field against Manchester United last weekend, but the manager has confirmed that he is available for selection against the Hornets.

Andy Carroll saw red at Old Trafford, leaving Long as well as Lucas Joao and Yakou Meite for striking options.

Speaking to the media ahead of the match, Ince said: "It's a big blow for us because he’s been playing well [Andy Carroll]. He scares the life out of people. With their [Watford] centre-half situation he would have been beneficial for us, but we haven’t got him and will have to go with someone else. The finances they’ve got and the squad they’ve got, but we’re at home again and we know we’re strong at home.

Reading Chronicle:

"Shane is okay. I was a bit concerned with him coming off at Old Trafford, I thought it might be longer than it was, but he’s trained all week apart from Monday. He’s raring to go. Naby is not quite there yet, but he should be ready for Sunderland. Ovie is back in training with us, which is good. Liam Moore did the warm-up today, which is really good news. The only one missing is Hutch, and he’ll be three or four weeks away."

The Hornets won the reverse fixture 2-0, but the Royals knocked Slaven Bilic's men out of the FA Cup in the third round.