When : Saturday 19th January, 3pm
Where : Pride Park Stadium, Derby, DE24 8XL
Capacity : 33,597
Away Stand : In a corner between the East and South stands
What might I see in the area : Expectation
Coming up next is a visit to Derby for what will be another very difficult game but at least it doesn’t seem quite as depressing a prospect as it might have been a couple of weeks ago after a couple of impressive performances. But despite those performances it is essential not to get carried away and keep feet well and truly on the ground – at least for the next few games anyway.
Derby are not in form. Their current form is 1 win in 7 (4 draws in that run) and they have a FA Cup replay at Southampton this midweek so hopefully they’ll field a full strength side for that and at least take it to extra time and penalties.
But then Reading’s form is 1 win in 10 so Derby are well ahead of Reading in the form table in that respect. On the upside though that 1 win was last time out so on the actual form over the last game only Reading are mounting promotion challenge while derby are in danger of relegation.
Team news or Derby is that Harry Wilson’s situation is still uncertain as Liverpool may want to recall him. There are also doubts over Mason Bennett (hamstring), Marcus Olsson (knee), Craig Forsyth (knee) and Curtis Davies (Achilles) while Ikechi Anya is unlikely play after falling out of favour at the club.
Reading’s catalogue of woe has actually improved considerably since Gomes arrived with only 5 names
From the senior squad now entertaining the physio at the moment; Obita, O’Shea, Meite, Baldock and Eza and perhaps 2/3 of those may make this by the time the full week unfolds. Of course whether the mystery injury raffle is still in operation remains to be seen.
Referee
Andy Woolmer is in charge of this one
Previously
18 Oct 16 > Reading 1-2 Aston Villa
27 Aug 16 > Cardiff City 0-1 Reading
23 Aug 14 > Nottingham Forest 4-0 Reading
08 Apr 14 > Bournemouth 3-1 Reading
29 Oct 11 > Crystal Palace 0-0 Reading
12 Apr 11 > Scunthorpe United 0-2 Reading
15 Apr 10 > Reading 3-0 Coventry City
16 Sep 08 > Reading 6-0 Sheffield Wednesday
17 Sep 05 > Reading 1-0 Crewe Alexandra
Historically
Reading have largely had the upper hand in games against Derby registering almost twice as many wins (23) in all competitions.
In the league this game will be the 40th time the two sides have met with all games having been played since 1984 – a drab 0-0 at Elm Park (so, on average, it's been roughly one game a year since then). The return from the 19 previous league trips to Derby is 9 wins, 3 draws and 7 defeats which is really rather good when you consider that Derby have always been a fairly decent top two division team.
How to follow the game
- Get a ticket and travel to the game
- Listen to Radio 5 Live and/or a myriad of other radio stations for score flashes
- Ring/text a mate for updates
- Use an iFollow subscription
- BBC Radio Berkshire (FM : 104.4, 104.1 or 95.4 depending where you are in the area)