County return to Edgeley Park on Tuesday evening, looking to bounce back after a 2-1 defeat away to Lincoln City at the weekend.
Dave Challinor’s suffered their first away defeat of the season on Saturday, with Tanto Olaofe’s opener being cancelled out as the Imps came from behind to pick up all three points at the LNER Stadium.
The Hatters now sit in 12th position but could move back into the top half of the table should results elsewhere go in our favour. Meanwhile, Reading are 6th in the league table, having won their last three games, including their 1-0 win against Bristol Rovers on Saturday.
Our opponents
The last meeting between County and Reading came in March 1998 – a 5-1 win for County at Edgeley Park that day with goals coming from Chris Byrne, Brett Angell and Stephen Grant. County finished 8th that season as the Royals were relegated from the Championship in 24th.
Since then, both clubs have experienced a whirlwind history, with Reading twice being promoted to the Premier League. After suffering relegation from the topflight in 2013, they spent ten years in the Championship before once again being relegated into League One for the first time in 21 years.
Following the dismissal of Paul Ince, former Southampton manager Ruben Selles was brought in as head coach for the 23/24 season. The Spaniard won 16 of 46 games in charge, having to navigate challenging off-field problems throughout the season.
Reading was deducted points on three separate occasions across the course of the season (six points in total), finishing 17th on 53 points.
Despite a disappointing season, the Royals have made a better start this season, winning seven of their opening 12 games. Beginning with a draw away to Birmingham on the opening day before a 2-0 win at home to Wigan.
They endured a poor run of form after that game, losing three of their next four, including a 5-2 defeat away to Bolton in September. However, since that defeat, Selles’ side have won five of their last six games, moving them into the playoff places on 22 points with a game in hand on Huddersfield and Wrexham.
Their top goal scorer Sam Smith, netted in three of those games, taking his tally up to five for this season. Attacking support comes in the form of Ben Elliott, Lewis Wing and Charlie Savage, all of whom have four-goal goal contributions for Reading this season.
Match Stats
- This will be the 33rd meeting between the two sides, with County winning eight of those, drawing 13 and losing 11.
- Fraser Horsfall and Kyle Wootton could both make their 100th appearance for County should they feature on Tuesday night.
- The first meeting between the two came back on 27th September 1958, over 10,000 were in attendance at Edgeley Park that day as County was beaten 1-0.
