Match Preview

Match date Saturday 11 November 2000, 3.00pm kick-off
Opposition Colchester United (Home - League Division Two)
Ticket information

Pay in advance or on the day, normal home match prices apply.
Fans are advised to purchase tickets in advance.
Upper West Stand: Adults: £18 in advance, £20 on the day. Concessions: £12 in advance, £14 on the day.
Lower West, East and North Stands:
Adults: £12 in advance, £14 on the day. Concessions: £7 in advance, £8 on the day.
(These prices also apply for visitors in the South stand)
The East Stand is unreserved seating.
The North Stand is unreserved seating.
Tickets can be purchased in advance by calling the ticket office on 0118 968 1000.

This match is Mates Day - everyone is encouraged to bring along a mate or two to produce Reading's biggest crowd of the season so far! Read more about Mates Day and find out about prizes and discounts available for bringing along all your mates. The Royals are in top form - and this match could see Reading return to the top of the Second Division table - don't let your mates miss out!

Travel, pubs, food 

Home match - See away fans guide for travel, food and beer guide.

  • Information on Mates Day
  • Team news

    Pardew's biggest decision will be who to start up front out of the Royals strike force - spoilt for choice is the biggest understatement there is. Fans will be calling for Cureton to start after being left out of the first eleven for recent away trips. Cureton and Butler seems a natural choice, but even McIntyre has worked so hard this season he's more than deserving of a start. Rougier will probably play wide, which could mean Reading will be balanced into a very attacking formation. At the back Mackie, who was superb last week at Walsall, is set to continue alongside Viveash in the centre of defence. Smith could be prefered to Keith Jones in midfield, but Parkinson should make another start after his best performance so far this season last Saturday.

    Colchester United have two key players out suspended which is good news for the Royals. Club captain Simon Clark is suspended after picking up two yellow cards in Colchester's 1-3 defeat at Peterborough a few weeks back, meanwhile Andy Arnott is also out of action after being sent off during a reserve fixture.

    Reading - from: Whitehead, Gurney, Viveash, Mackie, Newman, Caskey, Jones, Smith, Parkinson, Rougier, Butler, Hodges, McIntyre, Cureton, Howie, Murty, Hunter.

    Colchester United - from: Brown, White, Fitzgerald, Dozzell, Stockwell, Skelton, Morgan, Gregory, Johnson, McGavin, Duguid, Lock, Walker, Dunne, Keith.

    Form Guide

    Reading dropped to third place in the table during the week after Wigan jumped above us. The real damage was done last weekend though when Reading lost 1-2 away at Walsall who took back the first place they'd held earlier in the season. Last Saturday was our fifth away defeat of the season, but it could have been very different if the referee had given our goal in the first half or the penalty in the second half when Rougier was hacked down inside the area. Our away performances have been improving for certain - but we're still playing very different to how we play at home. Reading are still undefeated at home all season in the league - with seven wins and just the one draw from eight matches. We're banging in millions of goals and it's going to take a real off day for Reading to slip to their first defeat of the season at home. Our last three home matches have seen a 2-0 win over Wycombe, a 4-1 win over Wrexham, and the late 4-3 win against Oxford.

    We've scored 29 goals at home in eight games while Colchester United have managed just 6 away from home and let in 11 in eight matches. Colchester are six off the bottom of the division with just one victory away from home all season and three draws, so Reading will be hot favourites. Last Saturday Colchester went down 0-2 at home to Northampton, and before that they were done over 1-3 at Peterborough. The last away trip before that was a 0-1 defeat at Brentford. So it's looking good for Reading.

  • View Latest Second Division Table

  • Match Odds

    Available at Bet 247, where you can currently get a free 5 quid bet:
    With Reading's current home form we're once again strong favourites for a home win. The odds for a high scoring Reading win aren't really that different from a low scoring win! Still a fiver on 6-0 would be well worth doing - but only if our home form is set to go one step better....
    Reading win: 4/11
    Draw: 10/3
    Colchester United win: 11/2
    Reading win 1-0: 7/1
    Reading win 2-0: 13/2
    Reading win 2-1: 9/1
    Reading win 3-0: 15/2
    Reading win 3-1: 8/1
    Reading win 3-2: 33/1
    Reading win 4-0: 14/1
    Reading win 4-1: 14/1
    Reading win 4-2: 40/1
    Reading win 5-0: 28/1
    Reading win 5-1: 28/1
    Reading win 6-0: 66/1
    Reading win 6-1: 50/1
    Reading win 7-0: 100/1

    Opposition Site
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