MARVIN Bartley is raring to show Reading what they are missing, after hitting the best form of his Clarets career so far.

The midfielder was released by the Royals as a young teenager but overcame the blow to work his way up the football ladder.

Ahead of the international break, Bartley was influential in back-to-back wins over Nottingham Forest and Millwall and he is determined to pick up where he left off against his former club on Saturday.

“I was in the under 14s (at Reading) and they bombed me out,” said Bartley, who is keen to prove a point but determined not to get carried away.

“If you let yourself get too emotionally involved with club’s you’re playing against I don’t think you will perform, so I will prepare myself as I do for any game.

“Coming in for the last three or four games I’ve done alright and we have had a few positive results so we just want to keep the run going.

“We aim to make progress but we don’t want to get too ahead of ourselves.

“We will deal with the Reading game first and go from there.”

After a stop-start introduction to life in the Championship, following red cards at Nottingham Forest towards the end of last season and at Crystal Palace in only the second game this term, Bartley has benefited from a run in the side.

However, he is guarding against complacency.

“I had to be patient (after joining Burnley) and then did play a few games but got sent off, which didn’t help me,” said the 25-year-old.

“Consistency is a big thing. Coming in for three or four games doesn’t really prove a lot so I have to be consistent.

“As long as I am in the team that’s all I aim to do - take it one game at a time and always give 100 per cent.

“Recently that’s worked for me, so hopefully it continues when Reading come to town on Saturday.”