Former England international Wayne Bridge will spend the next few months on the sidelines after undergoing knee surgery.
The 33-year old full-back will be out of action for Reading until at least the New Year after succumbing to an ongoing problem.
"It's a big blow," Royals boss Nigel Adkins told the club's official website.
"He's a talented, talented player. He's been really good, we were really excited to get him in the summer.
"We've been managing him for the past few weeks but he'll be out for a few more weeks now, we just needed to tidy things up a bit."
