One to Watch – Garath McCleary

Name: Garath McCleary
Date of Birth: 15/05/1987
Previous clubs: Oxford City, Slough Town, Bromley, Nottingham Forest
Apps (goals): 295 (38)

It has been an impressive first season back in the English game for Reading manager Jaap Stam, who has led his Royals side to third in the Championship table, and they have the chance to close the gap on Brighton and Newcastle infront of the television cameras when QPR travel to the Madejski Stadium on Thursday evening.

One of the side`s standout performers so far this season has been Jamaican international Garath McCleary, who is equally comfortable on the wing or upfront, having bagged eight league goals this term, one short of his career best in a single campaign, which sees him lead the club`s goalscoring charts, alongside five assists.

He began his career in the Non-League game, first appearing for hometown club Oxford City, before a stint at Slough Town was followed by a move to Bromley, where he caught the eye of then League One side Nottingham Forest, who invited McCleary to the club for a trial, before offered him a deal at the City Ground.

A month after joining the Reds, he made his professional debut, in March 2008, coming on as a late substitute in a 1-0 defeat at home to Carlisle, and he would make eight appearances for Forest in the second half of the season, during which he bagged his first goal for the club on what was his third outing, also against Carlisle.

A second-place finish that campaign saw Forest promoted to the second-tier, giving McCleary his first taste of Championship football, where he has played out the majority of his career to date, and he would go on to spend three and a half years in total at the East Midlands club, scoring 13 goals, before departing for Reading.

His final year at Forest started in frustrating fashion, as he had to sit out the first four months of the 2011/2012 campaign through injury, but upon his return, he became one of the side`s key players, bagging nine goals, four of which came in one match in during an enthralling 7-3 victory against Leeds at Elland Road.

McCleary was voted the club`s Player of the Season that year, and unfortunately for the Reds, he was out of contract that summer, and after rejecting the offer of a new deal, he became a Premier League player with the newly-promoted Royals, who had just lifted the Championship trophy ahead of Southampton and West Ham.

His time in the top-flight would last just one season, during which he scored four goals, as Reading made an immediate return to the Championship, but his status as a top-flight player saw him catch the attention of the Jamaican national side, for whom he made his debut in a World Cup qualifier against Mexico in February 2013.

He has since become a regular member of the Reggae Boyz squad, and featured in the 2015 Gold Cup.

Just 28 games shy of making 200 appearances Reading, during which he has notched 26 in goals in all competitions, his pace and eye for goal this season has caused problems for numerous Championship defences this term, and he will fancy his chances of adding to the two goals he has scored previously against the R`s.