Steve Coppell, the Reading manager, admits his decision to send striker Leroy Lita out on a month's loan is a "calculated gamble".

Coppell allowed the 23-year-old to join Coca-Cola Championship promotion hopefuls Charlton Athletic until the end of March in the hope he can end a goal drought which dates back to August. The decision has left the Reading manager with just three recognised strikers in Dave Kitson, Kevin Doyle and Shane Long ahead of a month that could decide whether Reading can maintain their Barclays Premier League status.

"It is a calculated risk," Coppell said. "I have four strikers and in an ideal world all four of them would have been happy to stay and fight for their places. But they get frustrated and down and strikers do so more than any other position. This was just a short-term solution. Whether it turns into a long-term one I doubt. We will wait and see what happens after 28 days.

"Four into two never fits. We have chatted about things and as a manager you ask them to be patient knowing that they won't be. I was fully aware of the way he was feeling and thought this was the best solution. People have been saying "you must have had an argument" but we haven't. It is just a disagreement over my selection policy but I have got to be true to myself and do what I think is right.

"He will have a future back here if he scores goals. I won't have one if we don't win games so that's an obvious answer."

Lita scored 14 goals last term as Reading finished their first top-flight campaign one goal short of Uefa Cup qualification. He then went on to star for the England Under-21 side in the European Championship finals but since then an extra-time strike in a Carling Cup clash with League One Swansea represents his only goal in the current campaign.

Coppell has stuck by preferred first-choice pairing of Kitson and Doyle and uses Long as an impact substitute. Lita made his displeasure at being relegated to fourth choice known but Coppell insisted the shortcomings of others did not represent a persuasive argument for reinstatement.

He said: "I said to him the only way he was going to get back in the team was by impressing in training and reserve games. It should never be a process of "well, the people in the first team are doing crap so I should be playing". It shouldn't be selection by omission."

Reading take on Manchester City at the Madejski Stadium on Saturday and a point will be enough to lift them out of the bottom three.