SOUTTAR ON ROUTE AWAY FROM STOKE

HARRY SOUTTAR missed this rout of Reading and he could be gone permanently by transfer deadline day next week.

Boss Alex Neil has turned down two Leicester offers, starting at £10million, for the talented Stoke centre-back (above).

Other clubs are circling for the highly-rated Aussie international, who made such an impact during the World Cup.

After their morale-boosting win over the Royals, Neil said: “I don’t have to let Harry go,” but he hinted strongly that a sale might be in the interests of both Souttar and the Potters.

Neil said: “It will be a decision made internally, to see whether we let Harry move on to something that might be very good for him and that could help us do what we need to do in regards to the squad.

“Every player has a price, because ultimately it’s a business.

“We’re not in the habit of losing our best players, but a sign of being a successful team is selling players for big money and then reinvesting it to bring in four or five that you hope to do the same with.”

Reading boss Paul Ince was aghast at his team’s performance and said: “At half-time, I could have taken everyone off, except for our keeper. We lost three goals to schoolboy mistakes. Defensively we were diabolical.”

Stoke’s opener came after

Andy Yiadom was robbed by Dwight Gayle, with loanee Will Smallbone striking.

Slack defending let in Tyrese Campbell to score with a deflection off Tom Holmes.

Jacob Brown chested in from close range before Gayle ended his drought with his first goal in 50 games.

Ince had banned all talk about Saturday’s FA Cup trip to tackle Manchester United.

Now he has to lift the team and “get back to basics”.

And he warned his players: “Play like that in the league and you go down. Hopefully, this has been a kick up the backside and a wake-up call.”