It's Bristol City's turn to have a go at the mighty Reading today. Bristol are probably in their best form and consistency at this level for about 10 years, being comfortably in the upper half of the table and more than capable of springing surprises if their opponents don't turn up in the right frame of mind. They will also be determined to show they are not in a slump of form after 2 defeats in a row to Brighton and then at Birmingham last week.
Reading are on a roll of 4 consecutive league wins with no goals conceded but their last 4 games have all been against teams struggling and while team understanding and confidence is slowly growing there is always that air of dodginess floating about whenever other teams have the temerity to try and score against us. And with leading scorer Tammy Abraham running amok Bristol will certainly give plenty of cause for concern in that area.
The Reading injury list seems to grow with each game. Missing today will be; Yann Kermorgant (knee), John Swift (ankle), Stephen Quinn (knee), Anssi Jaakkola (knee), Deniss Rakels (ankle) and probably Joey van den Berg (knee).
Bristol City, unfortunately, would appear to have a more or less full squad to play with. Only defender Joel Ekstrand (knee) is a doubt and winger Luke Freeman has just returned from injury so may only be on the bench.
Expectation here is that Reading will be unchanged from last week's game v Burton which should mean a slightly more direct and pacey game going forward but a little less solid in midfield. So that's Habsi, Gunter, Obita, Moore L, Blackett, McShane, Evans, Beerens, McCleary, Williams and Samuel.
Bristol City fans are expected, as ever, to number about 3500 so there will be plenty of noise from that end of the ground however I'm sure they'll be drowned out by the masses of Reading followers singing their hearts out for the lads in a sterling effort to give our boys a lift and dispirit the City team.
(Un)Interesting facts
This season Bristol City have recovered the most points (12), of anyone, from games where they have been in losing positions this season.
In the first league meeting in Reading (September 1922), 43 games ago, Reading drew 0-0 with Bristol City. There has not been another 0-0 in this fixture since. Guess what today's score is therefore bound to be?
Referee
Scheduled to take up the whistle for today is Tim Robinson from West Sussex
Previously with Mr Robinson
01 Oct 2016 > Reading 1-1 Derby County
02 Feb 2016 > Ipswich Town 2-1 Reading
21 Sep 2013 > Derby County 1-3 Reading
Could be quite a cardy day as Mr Robinson is on an average of around 5 yellows a game so far this season compared with his average of approx 3.5 last season. His red card seems to appear around once every 5 games. WARNING : today is the 5th game since he last sent someone off.
Historically with Bristol City
This will be the 87th time the two teams have met in the league. Pretty even down the years with Reading just edging ahead on wins by 35 to 34 with 17 draws. Think it's a fairly standard case of win at home and lose away for both sides.
