Shaun Goater is poised to make his first league start of the season today as Reading travel to Stoke without their first-choice strike pairing.

The Bermudian frontman has been playing second fiddle to Dave Kitson and Nicky Forster so far this campaign, but the latter?s groin injury could hand Goater his opportunity.

?Obviously I am sorry to hear that Fozzy is struggling but I would be excited, ecstatic and delighted if I had the opportunity to start,? said Goater, who has spent the whole season keeping positive and talking about how he ?would make the most of it? if injury handed him a place in the team.

?It has come as a bit of a surprise this week to learn that I?ve got a chance of playing because I hadn?t been aware that Fozzy may need time on the sidelines ? but If I get the chance, I want to lead from the front and put a positive mark on the team to help us continue our rich vein of form.?

Goater has been banging them in for the reserves and in training but his starts have been limited to two League Cup games.

Other than that it has been a frustrating season for Goater, who finished top scorer last season at the Madejski Stadium, albeit with only 13 goals.

He hasn?t enjoyed as much success with the lower league club as he expected when he moved from Manchester City last summer, with new boss Steve Coppell, who replaced the man who signed him Alan Pardew, seeming not to favour the former Premiership hitman.

?Now it might be my time to help continue the good form,? Goater told the club?s official website.

?If I play at Stoke and we have a bad game, I?m sure a lot of people would say it?s because of me rather than anything else that might happen in the game.

?And I will have to put in a positive performance so that I can go away and know I?ve contributed fully.?

Forster could be sidelined for a few weeks with a recurring groin problem, making Goater?s performance all the more vital as fellow sidelined striker Lloyd Owusu is also champing at the bit.