When : Tuesday November 14, 7pm
Where : Madejski Stadium, Reading, RG2 0FL
Capacity : 24,161
Unbelievably Reading have got this far in the Bristol Street Motors Trophy without conceding a goal, let alone dropping a point
Now it's probably the sternest test so far against what will be an exceptionally good academy team to determine who finishes top of the group and therefore gets a home tie in the knockout stages and basically as long as Reading do not lose they will take that top spot.
History tells us Reading have lost every single first team game against the Gunners but as one half of the two teams is a junior side that's hopefully one fact that can be ignored to help the Reading cause.
Sadly the manager is very likely to still be in situ but despite that Reading have done very well in the competition to date, though that could well change in the knockout stages as the remaining teams start to take things more seriously.
For the record the rules governing Academy team selections are essentially:
- Academy teams must start at least six players aged 21 or under as at 30 June 2023
- Those teams can only include two players over the age of 21 who have made 40 or more senior appearances prior to 23/24
Usual rules on the night, a draw at 90 minutes means penalties even though they'd be utterly meaningless.
The competition remains regionalised until the last 8 sides are left. Currently through in the southern section are:
Grp A
Forest Green Rovers
Brighton U21
Grp B
Crawley
Charlton or Sutton
Grp C
Wycombe
Wimbledon
Grp D
Peterborough
Spurs U21 or Colchester
Grp E
Portsmouth
Fulham U21
Grp F
Oxford
MK Dons
Grp G
Reading
Arsenal U21
Grp H
West Ham U21
Bristol Rovers or Newport
Referee
Alan Young
Previously
Nothing
If you're not going to the game then you can follow it on RoyalsTV or BBC Radio Berkshire.
