JAAP Stam is putting a top-four finish on the backburner until Reading FC have secured a play-off spot.

Royals need one more point from their final two games to guarantee a top-six finish in the Championship.

They have a golden opportunity to do just that this Saturday when they host Wigan Athletic at Madejski Stadium (3pm ko) where a victory would almost certainly send their opponents down.

But Stam is refusing to look any further ahead even though finishing third or fourth would give Royals home advantage in the second leg of the play-off semi finals.

He told the Chronicle: “The first thing for me is to end up in the top six which is why it's very important to get a result against Wigan so that it is done.

“Then we can have a look at the Burton game and see what we need to do to end up third or fourth.

“But our first priority is Saturday. I don't really want to talk about third or fourth just yet.”

Stam is determined to send fans home happy in Reading's last scheduled home fixture this weekend.

However, he admits a drastic improvement is required following their 3-2 defeat at struggling Nottingham Forest.

“We're hoping to get the job done on Saturday, we want to do it as quickly as possible,” he declared.

“But we will need to do better than we did last weekend and all the players are aware of that.

“It will be a difficult because Wigan need a result to help them stay in the league, so they will be fighting for it as well.

“Sometimes these are the most difficult games. We expect a very motivated Wigan who have to go for it.

“But we are very motivated as well because we want to perform well at home and get that win to be in that top six.”

Stam also confirmed Paul McShane and Joey van den Berg are back in training but are still unavailable for selection, while Callum Harriott had a second hamstring operation this week and will be sidelined for several months.

Stam explained: “Macca joined in parts of training this week like passing drills. He feels good but won't be available this weekend.

“Joey has done some running and is feeling a lot better but he's not ready for the Wigan game.”