David Wagner has told his Huddersfield Town side to forget their frustrating 2-0 defeat at Derby County and their position in the Championship as they prepare to tackle Reading at the John Smith’s Stadium.

Town slipped to 18th, seven points above the relegation zone, after suffering a second successive loss despite a display which earned plenty of plaudits.

Head coach Wagner says his players must focus on reproducing that level of performance against an 11th-placed Reading side who are in FA Cup quarter-final action at home to Crystal Palace on Friday.

It’s the fourth meeting of the sides this season after a 2-2 league draw and an FA Cup third-round tussle which went to a replay won 5-2 by the Royals after an early red card for Town midfielder Jonathan Hogg.

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Wagner, whose side have taken just one point from nine, was in charge for the Cup clashes and said: “We felt we deserved better in both those games, and it’s not often you get another opportunity to put things right.”

The boss is optimistic winger Sean Scannell will be available after recovering from a knee injury and added: “We are aiming to repeat our performance at Derby and this time get the win.

“We must make sure that every team has to play at their highest level to get anything against us and I think that was the case with Derby.

“We are in a situation we have been in a couple of times before – playing well without getting the wins we deserve.

“We have turned it around in the past, when we won at Birmingham City and then Nottingham Forest, and we will turn it round again.

“It’s always the same. We must be focused on ourselves and our performance.

“It doesn’t help to think about losing at Derby or our position in the table.

“We must think about what we can do to beat Reading and get our gameplan right and we must invest everything in our performance.

“I am confident we can do this and if that if we do, that we will get the right reaction.”

Reading, unbeaten in six, have injury concerns over forwards Hal Robson-Kanu and Matej Vydra, who scored a hat trick in the Cup replay, as well as defender Paul McShane.