Villa The Visitors

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The Royals take on Aston Villa in the Saturday lunchtime fixture looking for the victory that will secure their top six status this weekend.

The Madejski Stadium clash sees Steve Coppell’s men in pursuit of a fourth straight Premiership victory, as their impressive inaugural campaign in the top flight continues.

Striker Leroy Lita made it five goals in three games when he struck a brace at Manchester City last Saturday, as the Berkshire club extended their unbeaten league run to five games.

They host a Villa side that made it two wins in their last three games when they defeated struggling West Ham United 1-0 last Saturday.

New signing John Carew struck Villa’s winner on his home debut, and manager Martin O’Neill will hope Carew’s striking partnership with fellow new signing Ashley Young will bear fruit on their travels.

Villa have only won once away from home this season, and a result at Reading will be necessary, should O’Neill’s side have aspirations of finishing higher than their current position of 13th in the Premiership table.

Coppell has injury concerns over striker Shane Long after he returned from Euro 2008 qualifying duty with the Republic Of Ireland, suffering from a fresh ankle problem.

Long’s team-mate Kevin Doyle, however, is fit to rejoin the Reading squad after overcoming a hamstring injury he suffered at Everton last month.

Midfielder James Harper is expected to keep his place in the Reading starting eleven, despite having stitches in a foot wound he picked up at Manchester City last weekend.

O’Neill, meanwhile, must decide whether to hand another of his January signings in Shaun Maloney a debut.

The Scotland international made a £1million move to Villa from O’Neill’s former club Celtic on transfer deadline day.

Villa defender Wilfred Bouma is a major doubt after picking up an ankle injury while on international duty with Holland in midweek.

Winger Gabriel Agbonlahor, however, is expected to shake off the calf injury which ruled him out of the England Under-21 friendly with Spain on Tuesday evening.

Vital Quotes: Martin O’Neill

Aston Villa boss Martin O’Neill expects a difficult game at Madejski Stadium this weekend.

O’Neill said, ‘Reading’s particular run has been phenomenal. They careered through the Championship last season, even to the point of not getting side-tracked by the FA Cup and fielding weakened sides.

‘Steve Coppell never once spoke about promotion, even when they had 80 points and the closest team to them had something like 32!

‘Sidwell, like a lot of Reading players, has done super. They’ve taken a liking to this league.

‘Doyle has done very well and has attracted attention from all sorts of quarters. So what does he go and do? Signs a new contract which I think is fair play to him – absolutely great.

‘I think it shows you that Doyle feels he owes quite a big chunk of that to Coppell and the backroom staff who have helped him.

‘At this minute in his development he has signed for an extra time at Reading and I think that is really comforting in this game.

‘Leroy Lita has done very well. They can’t pick up 40 points without many of them doing so. They have done absolutely terrific. And I have to say it has come as no real surprise to me.’

Reading Team News:

Reading (from): Hahnemann, Federici, Murty, Ingimarsson, Bikey, Duberry, Sodje, Shorey, Little, Sidwell, Harper, Gunnarsson, Oster, Hunt, Lita, Long, Kitson, Seol, Halford, de la Cruz, Convey, Doyle.

Player to watch: Leroy Lita

The much-talked-about striker is in fine form following his brace against Manchester City and the equaliser for England Under-21s after coming off the bench in midweek. He will be hungry to add to his tally, and may benefit from Dave Kitson’s role if given a start.

Aston Villa Team News:

Aston Villa (from): Sorensen, Taylor, Bardsley, Hughes, Mellberg, Cahill, Laursen, Ridgewell, Bouma, Samuel, Agbonlahor, Petrov, McCann, Barry, Davis, Berger, Young, Carew, Maloney.

Player to watch: John Carew

The towering Norwegian scored his first Villa goal against West Ham last weekend, and will be looking to continue his fine partnership with fellow new boy, Ashley Young. With the colossal Ibrahima Sonko missing, Carew will be a threat in the air.

Match Facts & Stats

READING

6th – 40 points

Highest achievable after Saturday’s matches: 6th

Lowest could fall: 7th

ASTON VILLA

13th – 32 points

Highest achievable after Saturday’s matches: 9th

Lowest could fall: 14th

Ref Watch:

Mark Clattenburg (Tyne & Wear).

Mark Clattenburg will be the man in the middle, having overseen Manchester United’s 4-0 win at Tottenham last weekend.

He has already officiated Villa this season, taking charge of a 1-0 home defeat to Bolton and a 3-2 Carlig Cup win at Leicester.

His last Reading game was nearly three years ago; a 2-1 home victory over Sheffield United when Shaun Goater netted the winner from the penalty spot.

Match Prediction:

This certainly looks a lot tougher than a few weeks ago, given O’Neill’s recent activity in the transfer market and his new-look attack. The two sides are fairly evenly matched, but Villa’s away form is not good, whilst the Royals are formidable at home. I’ll go for a score draw, just to be on the safe side, 1-1.