When : Saturday 23rd April 2022, 3pm
Where : KCOM Stadium, The Circle, Walton St, Hull, HU3 6HU
Capacity 25,404
Three games left to string out the survival hopes for Barnsley and Peterborough after Tom McIntyre at last sank Derby on Monday.
It’s a trip to Hull City next who, like Reading, have really struggled this season and who would be equal 19th in the table with Reading had it not been for FFP point deductions. So expect hardly anything between the teams on the day.
For those who don’t know, after Turkish media mogul Acun Ilıcalı and his company Acun Medya completed a takeover of the club in January, Hull parted company with manager Grant McCann and he is now managing Peterborough so maybe that might give the Hull players something extra on the day given Grant was the chap who masterminded the club’s quick return to the division. The new manager at the KCOM is former Trabzonspor, Rangers and Ajax striker (around 150 goals in about 275 games for those clubs) Shota Arveladze. Thankfully he is not a player/manager.
Like Reading Hull aren’t the best at home having recorded just 6 wins from their 21 league attempts however last time out at home the Tigers beat Cardiff 2-1 so this isn’t going to be the easiest of games especially as Reading are still looking for their first win at the KCOM (or whatever it’s called these days).
Current form for the men in orange and black is 4 wins from the last 15 or 3 wins and 3 defeats in the last 6, so blowing pretty hot and cold really, while Reading in the last 6 have managed 3 wins and 2 draws so I’d expect a fairly tight game. However while the home form for the Tigers is “Readingesque” their away form indicates a team that’s rather useful having lost only once in 2022 on their travels before losing at Millwall on Monday.
Tom Eaves and George Honeyman are dangers, both are pretty useful with 5 goals apiece. Keane Lewis-Potter however is the leading scorer on 9. Thankfully though Jarrod Bowen is no longer a Hull player so that’s one less pain to have to worry about!
Hull have doubts over Mallik Wilks and Andy Cannon while Josh Emmanuel and Randell Williams are expected to miss the game. For Reading, Araruna, Dann, Swift and Rinomhota will not be able to play through injury (and 3 of them could well have played their last game for the club anyway) on the other hand Ejaria (leg) and Holmes (a bit of a fever) are both expected to be available for this the last long old trek up north this season.
But there is still the spectre of relegation to put to bed however remote you feel that may be. After Monday’s games the chances are that Reading have already done enough to cling on to the second division for at least another season but I’d rather Reading put things to bed themselves once and for all rather than relying on others contriving to ditch their own chances of survival.
This weekend may well see Barnsley join Derby in the third division well before Reading kick off as the Tykes’ game is a trip to Huddersfield on the Friday night and anything other than a Barnsley win sees the trap door finally catch up with the South Yorkshire club.
Peterborough are also on a final last straw, the challenge being a “must win to maintain a chance” game that sees high flying Nottingham Forest check into London Road in search of points themselves to make sure of their play off spot.
However, as we know, odd things can happen in football and while a win for both or even either relegation rival seems rather unlikely, it’s not an impossibility and things could chunter on into games 45 and 46 so Reading need to be awake and looking to make it all academic - plus they have a chance to catch Birmingham City and reach the incredible heights of a (false) 20th place in the table. Also it’d be good to play WBA next week without caring about the inevitable Andy Carroll winner and being able to look forward to the “who’ll be fit enough for the end of season lap of honour” competition.
Referee
Tim “here’s to you missus” Robinson
Previously
19 Jan 22 > Reading 0-2 Luton Town
18 Sep 21 Reading 3-1 Peterborough United
06 Feb 21 > Stoke City 0-0 Reading
09 Dec 20 > Reading 1-2 Birmingham City
19 Sep 20 > Reading 2-0 Barnsley
18 Jul 20 > Blackburn Rovers 4-3 Reading
07 Dec 19 > Reading 2-3 Birmingham City
06 Apr 19 > Hull City 3-1 Reading
01 Jan 19 > Reading 1-4 Swansea City
19 Sep 18 > Reading 1-2 Norwich City
16 Jan 18 > Reading 3-0 Stevenage (FA Cup 3)
30 Sep 17 > Reading 1-2 Norwich City
29 Apr 17 > Reading 1-0 Wigan Athletic
01 Oct 16 > Reading 1-1 Derby County
02 Feb 16 > Ipswich Town 2-1 Reading
21 Sep 13 > Derby County 1-3 Reading
Historically
This will be the 27th league trip to Hull for Reading. The previous visits have yielded 7 wins, 10 draws and 9 defeats. There is a bit of an issue starting to develop though as Reading's last win in Hull was in 1994 at Boothferry Park which means Reading are yet to win at Hull's nice not quite so new shiny plastic spakkerdome. In the 7 visits there Reading have managed 4 draws and naff all else.
How to follow the game
- Get a ticket and travel all the way up north
- Listen to Radio 5 Live and/or a myriad of other radio stations for score flashes
- Ring/text a mate for updates
- Use an RoyalTV subscription
- BBC Radio Berkshire (FM : 104.4, 104.1 or 95.4 depending where you are in the area)
