Championship side Reading have confirmed the signing of Nottingham Forest's Scottish international striker Jamie Mackie on a season-long loan deal. Mackie joins fellow forward Simon Cox, who made the same switch from the City Ground to the Madejski last week, though a minor hamstring injury has ruled him out of their curtain-raiser against Wigan on Saturday.

Mackie, 28, arrives in Reading with bundles of experience at Championship level and above, but found goals hard to come by last season with only four strikes in more than 40 appearances for Forest (with six assists). However, he is itching to set the record straight having had a taste of the Premier League with QPR, scoring in their infamous 3-2 defeat to Manchester City in the last game of the 2011/12 season. "This is a great opportunity for me," Mackie said. "Speaking to the manager, I know this club have a lot of really good, young players breaking through into the first team and it feels great to be part of that. If myself and Coxy can add a bit of guile and experience to the group then that will be important this season. I'm excited to get going." 

Manager Nigel Adkins, who saw the Royals into seventh place last season - missing out on the playoffs by a single point - is equally enthusiastic about the deal. “Jamie is a player I remember watching when he was at Plymouth – he is a good age, works so hard for the team and I’m delighted to get this loan deal across the line," Adkins has said to the club's official website. "Both players we have brought in have experience of playing in the Championship, the Premier League and at international level and they will provide a positivity, a hunger and a desire to work hard with a group of players who have a fantastic team spirit."

Mackie could be in contention to make his debut in Reading's first home game of the season, against Ipswich Town on the 16th of August. 

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Sam France
Former Deputy Editor-in-Chief and Features Editor at VAVEL UK, part of the VAVEL team 2014-2018.