Reading boss believes Harvey Knibbs is 'back to his level' after featuring for the entire 90 minutes upon return from injury.

The 25-year-old missed four weeks with injury but made his first start in over a month on Saturday as the Royals lost 5-2 at Bolton Wanderers.

Full of drive and continuing to excel at winning possession high in the final third, Knibbs was among the better players for the visitors despite suffering a heavy defeat.

One of just two changes made by the Spaniard, there was an element of surprise as top scorer Charlie Savage was dropped in his place.

Quizzed on the selection headache, Selles pinpointed two reasons as to why Knibbs was favoured ahead of Savage in the North-West.

"We knew that we needed to be better in a couple of aspects of the game," he commented. "In terms of the position of the number eight on the left, we needed a little bit of support to Jeriel because we have been conceding extra crosses in the past that we didn’t want. The second thing was about the deep run that Harvey can bring, so it was a different profile.

"He has been out and injured for four weeks, he is back at his level and it’s good to have another player that can step onto the pitch and compete."

The Royals have a full week of preparation ahead of Huddersfield Town's visit to Berkshire on Saturday.