After three league wins on the spin the Royals put the league to one side for a few days and get back to FA Cup action with a 5th round tie against West Brom. After knocking out Liverpool and Burnley in the previous rounds, we will be confident of progressing to the Quarter finals. A full match preview is here…..
Vital Quotes:
Goalkeeper Adam Federici –
‘The pressure is off a bit, West Brom are top of the table and will be looking to win and we`ll be the underdogs again. But that`s good for us as we`ll go out there and enjoy the game, I`m sure we`ll have a good go at it and look forward to knocking them out.’
Reading Team News:
The Royals will give a late fitness test to Gylfi Sigurdsson who has missed the last few games with a foot injury but Zurab Khizanishvili is up tied. Matt Mills is expected to come straight back into the side after his 1 game suspenion.
Brynjar Gunnarsson could be rested after playing the last 2 games and Gunnar Thorvaldsson is pushing for a start in place of Simon Church.
Player to watch: Ryan Bertrand
Has been in fine form this season and is one of the Royals stand out players in the FA Cup run thus far. Will be keen to continue the good form and progress to an FA Cup quarter final.
West Brom Team News:
The Baggies will rest players for this cup tie, ahead of their important league game on Tuesday night against Cardiff. Frank Nouble is cup tied and key midfielder Graham Dorrans is out with a hip injury.
Jerome Thomas is suspended whilst James Morrison, Marek Cech and Ismael Miller are all injured.
Player to watch: Scott Carson
Carson is the captain at the Hawthorns and is keen to prove himself at the highest level again, after dropping out of the England squad whilst playing in the Championship. A good run in the cup will send a message to Fabio Capello and he will be desperate to win this tie.
Last Meeting
Back in October, despite taking an early lead through Matt Mills, the Royals were beaten at the Hawthorns 3-1.
Ref Watch:
Premiership ref Chris Hoy will take charge of this encounter.
Match Prediction:
After many expected us to lose to Liverpool and Burnley, the meeting with West Brom is being billed as a winable tie. However it will be just a difficult at the two previous ties in this cup run and I can see this going to a replay, 1-1.
Next Fixture:
Wednesday 17th February 2010, Crystal Palace (A)
C’mon you Royals – win and we are one game from Wembley!!!