Reading manager Nigel Adkins has made three changes to the side that lost 3-0 to Wigan Athletic on Friday, with Hal Robson-Kanu, Adam le Fondre and Danny Guthrie all coming into the side.
Guthrie is available for the game despite suffering with a calf problem earlier in the week.
There are four changes for Middlesbrough, meanwhile, with Jozsef Varga, Ben Gibson, George Friend and Luke Williams all starting the game.
Boro will be looking to get their playoff ambitions back on track after they lost 2-1 to struggling Millwall at the Riverside Stadium on Saturday.
Reading: McCarthy; Gunter, Obita, Morrison, Pearce; Williams, Guthrie, McAnuff, McCleary; Robson-Kanu, Le Fondre
Middlesbrough: Konstantopoulos; Varga, Friend, Whitehead, Omeruo; Gibson, Adomah, Chalobah, Williams; Graham, Ledesma
Benjamin Topliss
