The Australian shot-stopper had to be replaced with 20 minutes to go in the morale-boosting draw at Madjeski Stadium after dramatically tweaking his hamstring in the midst of the action.

And with the Royals earning a replay at Anfield on January 13, Federici may have feared he'd miss the dream fixture.

But the 24-year-old revealed he hadn't sustained any significant damage to his hamstring.

He told the Reading Chronicle: "I'm not too bad, I felt my hamstring go but I think it's more precautionary than anything.

"I should be fine for the weekend. I was in a bit of pain but I think it's pretty minor. I'm confident it shouldn't be a problem."

Reading's weekend fixture, before the Liverpool tie, is against Championship leaders Newcastle and Federici insists that contest holds more importance.

"Liverpool was a great result but Newcastle is a bigger game for us and this weekend is massive for everyone," he said..

"It's a great boost but we need a repeat performance. In fact, we need to repeat it every single game right up to the end of the season.

"We've got some big games coming up this month with Nottingham Forest and Sheffield United as well and we need to start climbing the table."

Reading currently sit just two points out of the drop zone in 20th in the Championship, but Federici believes their positive start to the new year could be a sign of things to come.

He added: "We've all said that 2009 was a horrible year for everyone so to start 2010 off like we have is fantastic."

"Performing like we did against Liverpool is obviously a big confidence booster for everyone. We played to the best of our abilities and made Liverpool look pretty poor to be honest."