Reading signs defenders Mariappa, Gunter

Reading, England (Sports Network) - Reading signed defenders Adrian Mariappa and Chris Gunter to three-year contracts Tuesday.

The 25-year-old Mariappa has played his entire career with Watford, making 247 appearances for the Championship side. Gunter leaves Nottingham Forest, where he played from 2009-12, to join Reading.

The duo joins strikers Pavel Pogrebnyak and Garath McCleary, midfielder Danny Guthrie, and defender Nicky Shorey as new signings for the newly-promoted EPL side.