Shaun Goater says he would not be in the least bit concerned if Reading went out and bought another striker - after all he experienced the scenario several times at Manchester City and was still able to prove his worth.

The Royals may be in the market for a frontman to fill the void left by Martin Butler.

Goater (33), who joined from City for ?500,000 last month, said: "I welcome competition as I'm sure all the other strikers here would.

"It keeps everyone on their toes and shows that we're not resting on our laurels and settling for what we've got. We've started the season really well but we want that to continue.

"That's where a new striker will come in handy. If there's competition up front and in other areas we all know there's someone waiting to come in if we're not performing."

Goater says he has plenty of sympathy for fellow striker Nicky Forster who needs one more goal to reach 50 for the club.

However, Forster has not found the net in the last four matches and is stuck on 49.

"When you face a milestone like that it can prey on your mind because you're willing to get the job done as quickly as possible," Goater said. "Nicky showed a lot of apprehension against Wimbledon but I'm sure he will reach his target very soon.

"I'm happy with the way things are going for us as a strike partnership. Nicky covers every blade of grass and deserves to score.

"It hasn't quite happened but it could be that he scores something like five goals in the next cluster of seven games which he deserves."

The Royals were not in action at the weekend after the home game against Walsall was postponed because Adie Williams, Steve Sidwell and Omar Daley were all on international duty.

However, when they return they face a difficult period of seven matches in the space of three weeks.

Goater added: "We want to keep the momentum going. When things are going well you can't wait for the next game to come along.

"So this postponed game has come at a time when we least want it to. Having said that, after the international matches this weekend we've got a tight cluster of games so it will give us a bit of time to talk about areas in which we need to improve and work on.

"There's not going to be a lot of time between games then. It will be play, rest, play for a while and it's hard to do much else in between."

And Royals manager Alan Pardew added: "I've given the players the weekend off. We've had a hectic start and we come back to a tough run of games where we play twice a week.

"We'll be going full-throttle so the rest will do us good.

"But I expect we'll have these international breaks all season now and we must use the time to get things right."

Pardew has been the subject of an official approach from managerless West Ham United. But Reading's chairman John Madejski has refused the Hammers permission to talk to his man.

Despite that, Pardew is among the favourites to take over at the First Division London side who were relegated from the Premiership last season.

Goater has already spoken of his fears if the gaffer walks out on the Royals.

"It worries me as he's one hell of a manager. If he goes, it'll be very disappointing as there's a lot of respect for him," he said earlier.

Ironically, Reading's next game is against . . . West Ham.