Valentine's night sees Brentford come to town and one hopes that Reading will actually turn up for this one rather than the utter shambles of a team that took to the field at Griffin Park earlier this season.
Brentford are not quite the same team that they were when they first hit the Championship a couple of season ago but are still more than capable of causing damage and are likely to be well organised under the auspices of manager Dean Smith. They currently reside in the battle for mid table obscurity that we thought would probably be Reading's fate this season. They are very stop start in terms of league results having recorded some good wins but these are regularly punctuated by a malaise of draws and defeats (W4 D3 L8 of their last 15 league games). They also have not kept a clean sheet in 2017 - a run of 8 games (so I can guess what that'll probably mean then).
Midfielder Lewis MacLeod will miss the game with a long term injury while Alan Judge is recovering from a broken leg. Left back Rico Henry has recovered from a bad shoulder injury but the game may come to soon for him as her looks to build up match fitness.
Reading will be without McShane, Ilori, Berg, Harriott while Quinn and Rakels are not match fit. The club will be hoping that Jordon Mutch will be available again after picking up a minor knock at Ipswich. My expectation is for the same starting lineup as Saturday with the only change I can see, barring any currently unknown injuries suffered against Barnsley, being the return of Swift at the expense of Kelly. But then Jaap does have a tendency to sling the odd curveball into the mix now and then so feel free to speculate on this point.
Referee
After making a success of the same fixture last season, Hampshire's Keith Stroud will once again be taking control of affairs
Previously
19 Nov 2016 > Reading 3-0 Burton Albion
28 Dec 2015 > Reading 1-2 Brentford
07 Nov 2015 > Cardiff City 2-0 Reading
03 Oct 2015 > Reading 2-0 Middlesbrough
14 Apr 2015 > Reading 0-1 Bournemouth
29 Mar 2014 > Reading 1-1 Huddersfield Town
11 Jan 2014 > Watford 0-1 Reading
13 Aug 2011 > Leicester City 0-2 Reading
03 Apr 2010 > Ipswich Town 2-1 Reading
06 Feb 2010 > Doncaster Rovers 1-2 Reading
29 Dec 2007 > Tottenham Hotspur 6-4 Reading
22 Sep 2007 > Reading 2-1 Wigan Athletic
25 Feb 2006 > Reading 2-1 Preston North End
23 Aug 2005 > Reading 3-1 Swansea City (League Cup)
Historically
Brentford are one of the most common opponents for Reading with this game being the 82nd time the clubs will have met in the league. Of the 40 league games played in Reading to date there have been 22 wins for the hoops compared to just 8 for the stripes. However Brentford have won on their last three league visits (scoring twice in each game) so there is definitely something Reading have fight for to put right. On the upside though Reading have scored at least once in 33 of those 40 league games.
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