Reading boss Ruben Selles has said that he 'needs' to make changes for tomorrow's EFL Trophy tie with Cheltenham Town as his squad 'deserve a rest.'

The Royals' thin squad have played three matches in a week and picked up six points, narrowly losing out to Rotherham United on Saturday in a 2-1 defeat.

Beating West Ham United Under-21s in their opening match of the Bristol Street Motors Trophy, Reading travel to Gloucestershire for their only away match of the group at the League Two Robins.

Used by many as an opportunity to give minutes to rotation players, the EFL have rules on how many changes managers can make.

Due to the small size of the squad, it is unlikely to be wholesale changes but the Spaniard has admitted that he will look to make as many changes as possible to give the bulk of his squad a break.

"I need to change- I don’t want to overload the players that have been playing for us," he said on Saturday. "We have other players who have been playing minutes for us and for the Under-21s. We will see the regulations of the cup because there are a couple of points referring to players that we need to achieve to make the line-up and then I will make rotation.  The players that have been playing deserve some rest.

"For the first time, we have played three games in a row. We won two of them and have put in tremendous effort because we don’t have many players more than 18 coming every weekend so I think they deserve a rest, and we will prepare for the next game."

Cheltenham beat Newport County in their opening tie to set up a clash between the top two on Tuesday.

The Exiles visit Berkshire next month for the final group fixture.