READING FC boss Paul Clement insists he would not trade places with any of his relegation rivals.

Royals are 19th in the Championship table and five points above the drop zone with three games to play after they could only manage a 2-2 draw with basement boys Sunderland last weekend.

But Barnsley in 22nd place do have a game in hand - a trip to Nottingham Forest next week - which could be crucial in the battle for survival.

Royals go to Sheffield Wednesday this Saturday (3pm ko), host mid-table Ipswich Town a week later then end with a daunting clash at Neil Warnock’s title-chasing Cardiff City.

Clement is desperate to avoid a scenario where Royals have to get a result in South Wales to secure their Championship status.

And he is confident Reading still have the advantage over their rivals near the bottom.

“If you look as us then down the table, I’d rather be in our position,” explained Clement. “But I told the players to pay attention to Barnsley who have a game in hand.

“You can look at the fixtures and say Birmingham have really tough fixtures, but they’re all difficult games.

“Maybe we had a slight advantage over Sunderland on Saturday, but they were really motivated.

“Sheffield Wednesday next week will be a hard game for us. Ipswich will be hard, Cardiff will be really hard.

“All we can do is concentrate on our own performances.”

Reading Chronicle:

Reading face a trip to Neil Warnock's Cardiff City on the last day of the season.

Reading could have gone a long way to guaranteeing their Championship status when they hosted relegation-haunted Sunderland last Saturday.

But Clement’s men needed a late Yann Kermorgant equaliser to rescue a 2-2 draw which maintained their five-point lead over Barnsley, who also drew 2-2 in another relegation six-pointer against Bolton.

“Like me, the players felt it was a missed opportunity,” confessed Clement. “But they’re motivated and focussed and know what’s required.

“They know this could go all the way to the death.”

Clement will be calling on all of his experience at Swansea City last season when he steered them from a seemingly helpless position to Premier League safety.

And he says the situation with Royals is far brighter.

“I suppose I feel a bit calmer in myself having had the experience of last season with Swansea,” explained Clement, who replaced Jaap Stam a month ago.

“We had a couple of must-win games and, while last Saturday was important for us, we are not at that stage yet.

“We need to get points over the last three games to make sure we don’t get into that situation where we have to win games or there is a consequence.

“I got to that point at Swansea and there’s a lot of pressure on everybody.

“I think our players are standing up to it right now and are doing their best in the circumstances. We’ve got to keep doing that to the very end.”

Remaining fixtures:

19. Reading (43pts): Sheff Wed (a), Ipswich (h), Cardiff (a).

20. Bolton (40pts): Wolves (h), Burton (a), Nottm Forest (a).

21. Birmingham (40pts): Sheff Utd (h), QPR (a), Fulham (h).

22. Barnsley (38pts): Leeds (a), Nottm Forest (a), Brentford (h), Derby (a).

23. Burton (35pts): Sunderland (a), Bolton (h), Preston (a).

24. Sunderland (34pts): Burton (h), Fulham (a), Wolves (h).