When : Saturday March 2 2024, 3pm
Where : Brunton Park, Warwick Road, Carlisle, CA1 1LL
Capacity : 17,949
After another Shrewsbury shambles comes what everyone expects will be the best remedy possible - a trip to bottom of the table Carlisle who have lost 8 of their last 9 league games. However you could have said something approaching similarity for the visit of Shrewsbury but instead we found that AFC Charity had turned up so to look forward to this one we're going to have to hope that the club can once again do without recoursing to fundraising exercises for the needy.
The Cumbrians beat Port Vale 2-1 at home on New Year's Day, which was the last game they had won in any competition anywhere until Tuesday when they won only their second away game of the season (1-0 at Burton). So let's hope that they are not finding some form at just the wrong time for Reading.
Jordan Gibson has hit 7 so far as the Cumbrians leading scorer but overall Carlisle have struggled for goals having only managed 11 at home and they have the division's second worst home record (only Fleetwood have a poorer home record). However it should be noted that Reading have the division's second worst away record (and couldn't even hold on to get the 3 points at Fleetwood (though to be fair that was due to yet another of those ****** awful refereeing decision that regularly blight every game at this level it seems - thinking it's the lower divisions that need VAR rather than the PL)) with only Carlisle themselves being worst on league travels.
Camara, Holmes and Dorsett are expected to still be missing and with there having been a week off for recovery after the Shrewsbury shambles it's probably unlikely that there will be any additions on the injury side, so any changes are likely to be more down to a case of Selles' fiddling about.
The extra 2 points taken off Reading has really dropped them back into the "combat" zone but those points can be regained quickly if Reading manage to come back from Brunton Park with three points. There's no doubt that this game and the visit of Wycombe next Saturday are now probably the most critical pair of games for Reading this season. Success in both will, hopefully, restore the status quo of Reading being comfortable, anything less though and it'll be back to the anxious glances at things going on behind us.
Saturday's fixtures for clubs around Reading in the table:
Bolton v Cambridge
Cheltenham v Burton
Derby v Port Vale
Fleetwood v Wigan
Northampton v Charlton
Shewsbury v Blackpool
Wycombe v Barnsley
Referee
Martin Coy
Previously
Nothing
Historically
Only 5 previous trips up to Carlisle with the last being a 2-1 defeat almost 42 years ago in March 1982. Overall honours are even between the clubs in this fixture with there being 3 draws and a win apiece from the 5 games played. Of course the last time the clubs met at Brunton Park the stands were actually aligned with the pitch whereas this visit will likely see some of the 1500 Reading fans presented with the sort of view below, though this is not thought to be because Carlisle are so bad that even the stand is trying to leave the ground.
How to follow the game
- Get a ticket and travel
- Listen to Radio 5 Live and/or a myriad of other radio stations for score flashes
- Ring/text a mate for updates
- Use a RoyalTV subscription
- BBC Radio Berkshire (FM : 104.4, 104.1 or 95.4 depending where you are in the area)
