The Royals look to bounce back from the 3-1 defeat at Middlesbrough, with a home game against Barnsley on Saturday.
The Tykes have had a mixed start to the season, but have recently taken West Brom and New Zealand striker Chris Wood on loan and he will make his debut.
A full match preview is here….
Vital Quotes:
Fit again striker Noel Hunt, who will be hoping for a start –
‘We`ve got a good bunch of boys and, if we click on the day, Barnsley will be the ones who`ll need to worry. At home we can be dangerous.’
Assistant manager Nigel Gibbs-
‘We always want to improve the squad we have and having all our players back will help us do that. It shows the strength of the squad we now have and things are looking good.’
Reading Team News:
Brian McDermott must decide who will replace the suspended Brian Howard, with either Michail Antonio, Simon Church or Noel Hunt all hoping to feature.
Zurab Kizhanishvili will be looking to start in place of Alex Pearce, who was poor at Middlesbrough, although he could play in a holding midfield role if we stick with a 4-2-3-1 formation.
Chris Armstrong and Ivar Ingimarsson both featured in the reserves in midweek but will be on the bench, at best.
Andy Griffin and Jay Tabb will both miss the game through injury, and are likely to be out until after the international break.
Player to watch: Jimmy Kebe
Is the playing stepping up his performances since Gylfi Sigurdsson’s departure and we will need to see more of it, if we are to push for the play offs. The winger has been superb all season and will look to add to his goal at Boro last weekend.
Barnsley Team News:
Chris Wood will make his debut following a loan move from West Brom, and will start upfront alongside another loanee Garry O’Connor.
Hugo Colace will return to the squad after missing the last three games with a calf injury.
Player to watch: Chris Wood
West Brom striker featured at the World Cup for New Zealand, and had a decent scoring record last season with the Baggies in this division. A great signing for Barnsley and we will have to be aware of him on his debut.
Last Meeting
January 29th 2010, Reading 1-0 Barnsley
Ref Watch:
Pat Miller will take charge of this fixture, his first ever Reading game. He has reffed Barnsley once back in March 2009, a 3-1 defeat to Cardiff.
Match Prediction:
I think we can pick up the points in this one, and am going for a repeat of last season’s fixture. 1-0 to Reading.
Next Fixture:
Tuesday September 28th, Ipswich (A)
