MATCHWATCH : Peterborough United (a)

[Sutekh]

When : Tuesday, 26 December 2023, 3pm
Where : Weston Homes Stadium, London Road, Peterborough, PE2 8AL
Capacity : 15,314

Reading take their unbeaten in two away record to London Road next for the return of the opening fixture of the season and a game we all probably expect will be a home win.

Despite Reading's current decent form of 3 wins and 2 draws from the last 6 league games this will be a very difficult game as Peterborough are "flying", as many would have expected, being currently 2nd in the table and having won 5 and drawn 1 of their last 6 league games. Add to that the fact that Reading have failed to keep a clean sheet away from home in a league game since the trip to Luton on 1st November 2022 and things are pretty well stacked in favour of the Posh for this one.

Kwame Poku and Ephron Mason-Clark are leading scorers at Peterborough with 7 goals apiece, then there's Kyprianou on 5. if they fail to deliver then the prolific (for this level) Johnson Clarke-Harris can back them up, plus several others in the squad have amassed 4 goals so far this season so it's going to be a difficult challenge to keep the whole lot at bay.

Reading should be pretty much full strength again with just McIntyre (illness) and Yiadom (knee) being doubtful as I don't think there'll be any knocks from the Wigan game. Therefore I expect an unchanged side for this game but don't be surprised if Selles has a "fiddle" as a trip to Cheltenham is on Friday evening.

Finally, no overnight stays now so the team are driving up on the morning of the game. However at least that shouldn't impact the likely result too much given the last 12 months on the road.

Referee

David Rock

Previously....

Nothing

Historically

This is the 19th season shared with the team that’s posh but not royal with the first league game being a 3-2 home win for Reading back in 1961.

Reading have managed just 2 wins from the 18 previous league visits and of the other 16 league appearances at London Road 10 have been lost so visiting this part of Cambridgeshire isn’t exactly noted for being a happy place for the Biscuitmen. The last league win there was just over 22 years ago in November 2001.

How to follow the game

1. Get a ticket and travel to the game
2. Listen to Radio 5 Live and/or a myriad of other radio stations for score flashes
3. Ring/text a mate for updates
4. Use a RoyalsTV subscription
5. BBC Radio Berkshire (FM : 104.4, 104.1 or 95.4 depending where you are in the area)

[andrew1957]

If I were manager I would send a reserve team to this match and keep the players that played yesterday fresh for the Cheltenham and Exeter games which are both very winnable.

[Hound]

No teams in this division are particularly good and all are beatable

Hopefully everyone is fit from yesterday and then we’ve a chance of getting something there. We’ve actually played ok against the teams at the top and taken points from 3 of the 5 games we’ve played against teams in the top 6

[WestYorksRoyal]

If I were manager I would send a reserve team to this match and keep the players that played yesterday fresh for the Cheltenham and Exeter games which are both very winnable.

Terrible idea. I fully expect a home win, but they're not Man City or even Leicester City. There's an outside chance we get a result that takes us out of the relegation zone so we should be going full strength.

Plus, our players look like they can handle a run of games physically. This isn’t a team of crocks as we've become accustomed to in recent seasons.

[SouthDownsRoyal]

If I were manager I would send a reserve team to this match and keep the players that played yesterday fresh for the Cheltenham and Exeter games which are both very winnable.

Thanks Andrew

[Brogue]

Andrew sounds like a fcuking idiot

[SouthDownsRoyal]

Andrew sounds like a fcuking idiot

Are you new here?

[Snowflake Royal]

No teams in this division are particularly good and all are beatable

Hopefully everyone is fit from yesterday and then we’ve a chance of getting something there. We’ve actually played ok against the teams at the top and taken points from 3 of the 5 games we’ve played against teams in the top 6

Yeah this. It won’t take much to rock our confidence or disrupt us either. So keep plugging away.

I do want to see Kelvin get more than 4 or 5 minutes a game though. And Vickers.

A double sub around 75 minutes for Vickers and Kelv to come on for Smith and Knibbs would be nice to see.

[leon]

Andrew sounds like a fcuking idiot

Are you new here?

I would save the petrol money and just concede now. There’s no way we can compete with a footballing gargantuan like Peterborough.

[SouthDownsRoyal]

Andrew sounds like a fcuking idiot

Are you new here?

I would save the petrol money and just concede now. There’s no way we can compete with a footballing gargantuan like Peterborough.

Barry Fry agrees

[andrew1957]

Andrew sounds like a fcuking idiot

Your plan. Play the first team against Peterborough. Lose narrowly then a tired team loses to Cheltenham and Exeter. Nil points.

My plan. Preserve the first choice players. Lose against Peterborough but beat Cheltenham and Exeter - 6 points.

But I suppose that makes me an idiot. Happy Christmas.

[tidus_mi2]

Andrew sounds like a fcuking idiot

Your plan. Play the first team against Peterborough. Lose narrowly then a tired team loses to Cheltenham and Exeter. Nil points.

My plan. Preserve the first choice players. Lose against Peterborough but beat Cheltenham and Exeter - 6 points.

But I suppose that makes me an idiot. Happy Christmas.

I don't think you appreciate how fit professional players are, they can play in all the games in the Christmas period, it might just mean time lost in training for recovery which is why squad rotation can be good, I don't think we have that luxury.

[Brogue]

Andrew sounds like a fcuking idiot

Your plan. Play the first team against Peterborough. Lose narrowly then a tired team loses to Cheltenham and Exeter. Nil points.

My plan. Preserve the first choice players. Lose against Peterborough but beat Cheltenham and Exeter - 6 points.

But I suppose that makes me an idiot. Happy Christmas.

And you think the fans are going to be happy travelling to an away game on Boxing Day all up for the game to see the team sheet full of the youth team. We are unbeaten in six, sixth in the form guide and go into this game on the back of a two nil win and our first clean sheet since September 10th. And other have pointed out it not as if we are playing Man City ffs it’s Peterborough. So I stand by my original statement, yes you are a fcuking idiot.

[Rax]

Andrew sounds like a fcuking idiot

Your plan. Play the first team against Peterborough. Lose narrowly then a tired team loses to Cheltenham and Exeter. Nil points.

My plan. Preserve the first choice players. Lose against Peterborough but beat Cheltenham and Exeter - 6 points.

But I suppose that makes me an idiot. Happy Christmas.

And you think the fans are going to be happy travelling to an away game on Boxing Day all up for the game to see the team sheet full of the youth team. We are unbeaten in six, sixth in the form guide and go into this game on the back of a two nil win and our first clean sheet since September 10th. And other have pointed out it not as if we are playing Man City ffs it’s Peterborough. So I stand by my original statement, yes you are a fcuking idiot.

Yes, he's an idiot! What sort of moron would suggest "throwing" a game!

[Mid Sussex Royal]

Andrew sounds like a fcuking idiot

Your plan. Play the first team against Peterborough. Lose narrowly then a tired team loses to Cheltenham and Exeter. Nil points.

My plan. Preserve the first choice players. Lose against Peterborough but beat Cheltenham and Exeter - 6 points.

But I suppose that makes me an idiot. Happy Christmas.

And you think the fans are going to be happy travelling to an away game on Boxing Day all up for the game to see the team sheet full of the youth team. We are unbeaten in six, sixth in the form guide and go into this game on the back of a two nil win and our first clean sheet since September 10th. And other have pointed out it not as if we are playing Man City ffs it’s Peterborough. So I stand by my original statement, yes you are a fcuking idiot.

There's also the risk of injury with 2 very important games following, and some of our second string have shown they are pretty good.

I'd be very tempted to rest 2 or 3 of our key players, kelvin for Smith, Vickers for Azeez and maybe Savage for Wing.

[Uke]

Got tickets for the match

Can we have Darren Ferguson for three months between when he inevitably gets fired again and is the reinstated?

[WestYorksRoyal]

Andrew sounds like a fcuking idiot

Your plan. Play the first team against Peterborough. Lose narrowly then a tired team loses to Cheltenham and Exeter. Nil points.

My plan. Preserve the first choice players. Lose against Peterborough but beat Cheltenham and Exeter - 6 points.

But I suppose that makes me an idiot. Happy Christmas.

I don't think you appreciate how fit professional players are, they can play in all the games in the Christmas period, it might just mean time lost in training for recovery which is why squad rotation can be good, I don't think we have that luxury.

It's not like Cheltenham and Exeter have massive squads they can rotate either. Exeter rotated against us in the cup and we beat them 9-0.

All squads have to manage this period. We should go full strength against Peterborough as I back our squad to manage it better than Cheltenham and Exeter.

[Hound]

Don’t think we should rotate at all at this point in time. Use the subs a bit better to try to give Smith and wing a bit of a break if possible but otherwise plough through it. Important to just pick up as many points as possible whilst things are going relatively well

[Snowflake Royal]

Andrew sounds like a fcuking idiot

Your plan. Play the first team against Peterborough. Lose narrowly then a tired team loses to Cheltenham and Exeter. Nil points.

My plan. Preserve the first choice players. Lose against Peterborough but beat Cheltenham and Exeter - 6 points.

But I suppose that makes me an idiot. Happy Christmas.

I don't think he plans to lose all three games by playing the strongest team.

His could end up win all three games.

It's not an either/or situation doofus.

[Clyde1998]

Don’t think we should rotate at all at this point in time. Use the subs a bit better to try to give Smith and wing a bit of a break if possible but otherwise plough through it. Important to just pick up as many points as possible whilst things are going relatively well

You might make a couple of changes if players are a bit fatigued, but we should play as strong a side as possible. If Yiadom is available he'll likely come back in. We've got to keep the momentum going.