STRIKER Tokelo Rantie is expected to be a loan target for Championship club Reading.

The Royals are understood to be plotting a season-long loan move for the South Africa international, whose hopes of playing at Cherries appear to be further diminished by the summer arrival of Joshua King from Blackburn Rovers and the imminent swoop for Crystal Palace hotshot Glenn Murray.

Rantie’s 12 appearances during last season's Championship title triumph all came from the bench and yielded just two goals, a brace in the 8-0 annihilation of Birmingham City in October.

Prior to that, the 24-year-old had struggled to make an impact following his big-money move from Malmo for a club-record fee for Cherries at the time, scoring three goals in 31 appearances, including 16 from the bench, in his first season.

The Bafana Bafana star took time to break his duck in England, netting in his ninth Championship outing for Cherries to secure a 1-1 draw at Burnley in November 2013.

He later struck against the Clarets at home as well as popping up with the winner at Dean Court against Huddersfield.

The rapid emergence of new recruit Callum Wilson quickly curtailed his hopes of being more involved last season with speculation over the possibility of loan or permanent moves beginning towards the back end of last season.

Championship clubs Wolves and Cardiff were among those linked with a swoop for Rantie in the past but Reading are now thought to be at the head of the queue for his services.

Rantie netted against Cardiff during pre-season but has had just one taste of competitive action so far this campaign, a 23-minute cameo in which he had a goal chalked off for a questionable offside call in the 4-0 League Cup win at Hartlepool United.

Despite his lack of game time at Cherries, Rantie has been called up by international boss Shakes Mashaba for Thursday’s away friendly against Mauritania.