Royals prepare for Exeter test

We will play our first pre-season friendly tonight, against League Two outfit Exeter City.

The game at St. James’ Park will kick off at 7.30pm, as Adkins prepares his side for their first test of pre-season. The boss will play two different sides in the game, fielding them in each half, but the youth will be mixed in with the more experienced personnel.

Every first-team player is set to feature, except Jem Karacan, who has only returned to light training over the past few weeks. Stephen Kelly only returned from his extended break last week, but is set to feature at left-back in the friendly tonight.

Adkins is likely to field the following 22 players, with a few in reserve, as they are not down to play for the under 21s at Basingstoke tonight. They are as follows:

Alex McCarthy
Adam Federici

Chris Gunter
Shaun Cummings
Stephen Kelly
Shane Griffin

Sean Morrison
Alex Pearce
Michael Hector
Pierce Sweeney

Danny Williams
Danny Guthrie
Hope Akpan
Aaron Tshibola
Jake Taylor

Garath McCleary
Jordan Obita
Craig Tanner
Ryan Edwards

Nick Blackman
Hal Robson-Kanu
Pavel Pogrebnyak

ON STANDBY

Mikkel Andersen
Jake Cooper
Sean Long
Jack Stacey
Aaron Kuhl