Reading are "quality" according to Stevenage boss Alex Revell - and have a manager just as good to boot - but Boro need to gird their loins and step up to the challenge.

The two teams meet at the Lamex Stadium tomorrow (Saturday) after victories in the FA Cup first round.

Neither was comprehensive mind, the Royals needed a 86th minute own-goal to come through 2-0 at home to League Two Fleetwood Town while Boro scrambled through on penalties against Northern Premier League Guiseley.

But the visitors are enjoying a good run of results, five wins in their last seven matches thrusting them up into the top 10.

And Boro, who have lost four of their lat five matches, know they face a challenge if they are going to get more points on the board.

"They're a team full of real quality," said Revell. "They've got their struggles off the pitch and in terms of everything that's been publicised, but on it, they've got real quality and they’ve got a manager that that has got a real excellent reputation and is working under those circumstances and producing performances. 

"We know it's a challenge. We didn't have the right results in either game against them last year and in terms of our dressing room, we need some big performances. 

"They know that and with the challenge that we're faced in terms of people that are fit and ready to play, we've tried to be as level as we can managing the group. 

"We have to keep those players going in terms of confidence and to keep believing in their performances. 

"But we know it’ll be a great game for us. The crowd will be up for it, they've sold out their allocation and I know our fans will be ready for it. 

"We have to step up and produce a performance because losing is not acceptable for us. 

"We have to get back to playing our way and winning." 

Injury crises afflict most football clubs at least once in a season and often much more.

But where Stevenage have been hard done to is having players out all from the same position.

That isn't just it though, with the character of the men missing equally a blow.

"You need leaders," admitted the Boro boss. "We've lost leaders, natural leaders, people that have been here for a couple of years now and understand what we're based on. 

"We're based on our athleticism, our power and our strength in terms of our back unit being so reliable.  

"We had 19 clean sheets last year, that tells a story. It paints a picture for us and at the start of the season, the way we started this year with clean sheets, we have to get back to that. 

"We've lost those players, those types that are renowned for the way they defend here and being so hard to beat. 

"We've had to adjust and we've had to adapt and now, absolutely, we need players to step up and lead, and not only lead in terms of communicating and organising, but lead in terms of keeping the ball out of our net and to play with a purpose, play forward, make the right decisions and encouraging. 

"And they need to be aggressive, not just going into tackles and winning it, but in how you pass and how you move and how you run all of those things. 

"They give confidence to people and we need people like that, absolutely. 

"The Cambridge game was disappointing but we went into that knowing if we win, we go fifth. 

"That’s the biggest thing for us. That was only two weeks ago so we didn't become a bad team in that time. 

"It's just about getting those [leaders] back to add to the strength we've got."

READ MORE: Latest on the Stevenage injury woes ahead of Reading clash

However, Revell has seen a reaction this week in training and has seen people stepping up to take on the required mantle in what he classes as a positive week.

He said: "And by positive, what you want is obviously a reaction after [Guiseley]. We're all disappointed because we wanted to win in a way that [pleases] the fans and where we score more goals.  

"But the FA Cup doesn't work like that, we got burned last year in the same situation. 

"There are many teams that that aren't in the draw but we need to perform better absolutely, there’s no two ways about it. 

"But what I mean by positive is in terms of how we react from that - how we've trained and how they've worked in terms of their spirit and togetherness. 

"When you lose games, you do start looking even deeper. When you win, it's easy to come in and things just roll, but when you lose you are looking at everything. 

"You’re looking at all sorts of things to try and change it. 

"But we’re clear as staff that we keep our principles and we've tried to maintain and achieve that every day. 

"We try to make sure that this group come in every day and they work with a purpose, they work together and when we finish every day we look back to see if they were better or they improved or did something that will make us better on a Saturday. 

"That's all you can do. 

"The spirit and focus [on Friday] was excellent and they looked ready to go and perform against Reading."