When : Tuesday 12 March 2024, 7.45pm
Where : Pride Park Stadium, Derby, DE24 8XL
After yet more cr@p served up at home Reading are off to second place Derby for a "god knows what" plus, no doubt, plenty of fan vitriol for having the temerity to not be terribly sympathetic to Derby fans when their club cheated its way into its own financial problems.
Not only is it tricky given the dreadful form shown in the last couple of home games, but also because of Reading’s utterly appalling away league record in midweek fixtures which currently stands at 5 wins from 56 attempts over the last 10 years (and trickier still when you realise that all 5 of those wins were at teams beginning with the letter B (or with an official nickname beginning with B); Birmingham, Burton, Bristol, Blackburn and at "Borough" (Stevenage) - of course if Derby could rename themselves as Berby for the game it might help matters).
Derby have won 6 of their last 9 but did get turned over by Charlton in their last but one home game so they're not perfect despite being in second place and looking like current certainties to join Pompey in the second tier next season. They are on a run of 2 successive 3-0 wins though so may take a while to be knocked off their perch (though if the home version of Reading turns up we might as well all stay at home).
James Collins, Nathaniel Mendez-Laing and Martyn Waghorn are the sources of goals that need to be marshalled out of the game which Reading will find quite difficult enough to do so getting forward and doing damage to Derby's rearguard is going to be at a premium.
Holmes is still injured, as I presume is Camara, hopefully Dorsett might be eligible again which will hopefully mean some dental work can be undertaken to get rid of the molar that's been causing trouble at the back recently.
Referee
Charles Breakspear
Previously
28 Nov 24 > Reading 5-1 Carlisle United
Historically
Reading have largely had the upper hand in games against Derby registering almost twice as many wins (26) in all competitions.
In the league this game will be the 48th time the two sides have met with all games having been played since 1984 – a drab 0-0 at Elm Park (so, on average, it's been roughly one game a year since then and just goes to show how the once mighty have fallen over the last 4 decades). The return from the 23 previous league trips to Derby is 10 wins, 3 draws and 10 defeats which is really rather good when you consider that Derby have always been a fairly decent top two division team.
How to follow the game
- Get a ticket
- Listen to Radio 5 Live and/or a myriad of other radio stations for score flashes
- Ring/text a mate for updates
- Use the RoyalsTV subscription
- BBC Radio Berkshire (FM : 104.4, 104.1 or 95.4 depending where you are in the area)
