Kermorgant Gets New Deal Ahead Of Barnsley Game

By Hob Nob Anyone?

It's been another good week for Reading as they prepare to face Barnsley at the Madejski Stadium this Saturday afternoon. Last night Jaap Stam was confirmed as the Championship's manager of the month for January and today Yann Kermorgant put pen to paper to extend his contract at Reading until the summer of 2018. That followed a very positive injury update from Stam in the week which confirmed a number of key players are on the verge of returning to action. Following a successful transfer window that saw a number of Premier League loan players come in, things are looking very positive indeed around the club as they sit third in the Championship table.

A quick glance at the current Championship table reveals Saturday's game is a big opportunity to move ahead of a play-off rival. Barnsley are four points outside the play-off positions, but a Reading victory would pull Reading a huge 14 points clear of the Tykes. It's getting to the stage of the season where victories over teams like Barnsley become a huge step towards securing a top six finish at the end of the season. If things go according to plan then Reading could be looking more likely to to finish in the top six than not, giving us a huge chance to chase that unexpected promotion. A Reading win will see fans looking out for results of the top two; Brighton are at home to Burton and league leaders Newcastle United travel to Wolves. The top two will be expected to pick up further wins there.

Barnsley had gained ground on the top six until picking up just a single point from their last two games. Their last game was a 0-0 home draw against Preston North End, and before that they suffered a hugely disappointing 1-3 home defeat to Championship strugglers Wolves. Any points at Reading would be a big result for them as they look to stay in touch. Reading are of course in great form, with last weekend's 2-2 away draw at Ipswich following on from three straight victories. Earlier this season we were 2-1 winners away at Barnsley with McCleary and Swift both scoring inside the opening half an hour.

As revealed in the week, Paul McShane and Joey van den Berg are expected to miss the home games against Barnsley and Brentford (Tuesday night). The Royals will also still be without Stephen Quinn and Deniss Rakels who are also on the verge of returning to first team action - if they can find a place in the side with competition for places hotter than ever at the club. Visitors Barnsley find themselves without midfielder Alex Mowatt who will be out suspended.

Recent Meetings With Barnsley

DATE	COMPETITION	OPPOSITION	SCORE	REPORT
17 September 2016	Championship	Barnsley (Away)	W: 2-1	Read report...
25 March 2014	Championship	Barnsley (HOME)	L: 1-3	Read report...
01 October 2013	Championship	Barnsley (Away)	D: 1-1	Read report...
17 March 2012	Championship	Barnsley (Away)	W: 4-0	Read report...
20 August 2011	Championship	Barnsley (HOME)	L: 1-2	Read report...
19 March 2011	Championship	Barnsley (Away)	W: 1-0	Read report...
25 September 2010	Championship	Barnsley (HOME)	W: 3-0	Read report...
30 January 2010	Championship	Barnsley (HOME)	W: 1-0	Read report...
29 August 2009	Championship	Barnsley (Away)	W: 3-1	Read report...
25 August 2009	League Cup	Barnsley (HOME)	L: 1-2	Read report...
18 April 2009	Championship	Barnsley (HOME)	D: 0-0	Read report...
06 December 2008	Championship	Barnsley (Away)	W: 1-0	Read report...

Graphics supplied by KickOff.

From the Discussion

SU Sutekh 10 Feb 2017 · 10:06am

Reading return the Madejski Stadium to face another awkward challenge, this time from a fairly useful Barnsley who are lurking just outside the playoffs and have a good away record in recent games with 3 wins out of their last 4 trips. I presume they'll come down and try and hassle Reading into their usual panic ridden defensive mistakes from the start rather than just plonk the bus, bulldozer and whatever else they have in front of the goal and wait for a breakaway. So the standard cliche dictates Reading need to be patient (well they're quite good any that, in fact rather too good at times) and work hard for one and all to get… More →
GE genome 10 Feb 2017 · 10:17am

No shit :!:
SR Stockport Royal 10 Feb 2017 · 10:41am

Sutekh > Michael Owen
TM tidus_mi2 10 Feb 2017 · 11:39am

I wonder if he meant "scored first"
GE genome 10 Feb 2017 · 11:42am

Not true though
TM tidus_mi2 10 Feb 2017 · 12:54pm

Ok, then I concur with the Michael Owen comment.
SU Sutekh 10 Feb 2017 · 4:19pm

Oh the irony of it all
SU Sutekh 11 Feb 2017 · 1:56pm

Reading XI : Habsi, Gunter, Obita, Blackett, Moore, Evans, Williams, Kelly, Beerens, Kermorgant Subs : Jaakkola, Swift, Meite, Popa, Watson, Oxford, Grabban Where is Mutch? I'm presuming he's ill or injured Barnsley XI : Davies, Jones, Yiadom, Robers, Macdonald, Watkins, Scowan, James, Hammill, Bradshaw, Williams Subs : Townsend, Elder, Moncur, Kent, Hedges, Armstrong, Evans Note that Angus Macdonald is an ex Reading youngster Presume Reading are going with a straight 4-3-3
IR Ian Royal 11 Feb 2017 · 2:16pm

That's only 10 players... I'm assuming you missed McCleary (checked and that's right) So presumably one of ........................AAH Gunter, Moore, Blackett, Obita .........Williams, Evans, Kelly ..McCleary, Kermorgant, Beerens or ...........................AAH ............Gunter, Moore, Blackett With one of McCleary, Williams or Beerens playing RWB and the other two in midfield and partnering Kermit. EDIT: Whoscored.com (not necessarily accurate) have it as 3-4-2-1 AAH Gunter, Moore, Blackett Williams, Kelly, Evans, Obita Beerens, McCleary Kermorgant Now changed to 4-2-3-1 - clearly they're just guessing :lol: Gunter, Moore,… More →
IR Ian Royal 11 Feb 2017 · 3:41pm

This is all a bit dull listening.
EM Emeraldroyal 11 Feb 2017 · 3:42pm

Agreed. Win ugly that will do.
LI Libertine 11 Feb 2017 · 3:59pm

HT sub. Grabban on for Kelly.

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