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April 2 - Portsmouth (H)

So who are we playing?: Portsmouth at the Madejski Stadium

Where are Portsmouth in the Championship? 13th

Recent Form? Pretty good actually, they've won seven of the last nine though only one of those wins came against a top half side.

Last time we played them? 1-1 Draw at Pompy back in August, with Kebe scrambling a last minute equaliser.

Any former Royals?: Quite a few actually, goalkeeper Jamie Ashdown, defender Ibrahima Sonko, defender/midfielder Greg Halford & one Dave Kitson. Oh and Hayden Mullins was born in Reading.

Attendance watch: Portsmouth have so far sold 3,800 of 4000 available tickets and the OS put the attendance estimate at more the 22,000.

Any travel woes? Some diversions for the 72a and 72b

Tilehurst End Thoughts

Historically we've been pretty dire against Portsmouth, with the Royals without a win against Pompy at home since 1982. The 2-0 defeat at home on New Years Day 2008 still sticks in my mind, with Sonko's red card all but torpedoing our hopes early on.

The Royals could move into the top six for the first time in 2011 if they can pick up a win and Forest lose to Leeds. A crowd of over 22 thousand and the return of up to four former Royals should add some extra spice to the game,hopefully creating a good atmosphere at the Madejski.

Team wise it'll be interesting to see who McDermott brings into the team. The international break has allowed several players to come back to fitness, but will he keep faith with a winning team?

At the time of writing, Alex Pearce and Shaun Cummings look the more likely to return to action, having both played for the reserves in midweek. Adam Federici looks set to miss out, but with Alex McCarthy in fine form there seems little point in rushing him back anyway.  Andy Griffin and Jobi McAnuff are also in the mix, but by the tone on the OS, Matt Mills, Noel Hunt and Mikele Leigertwood sound unlikely to feature

In terms of my prediction, I think it'll be a fairly open game with both teams going all out for the three points, and with that in mind I'm going to predict a 3-2 home win.

Other Match Previews

Reading FC OS

Sky Sports

Floyd On Football

Reading Mad

Portsmouth Mad

Give Me Football

TEAMTalk

Elsewhere in The Championship (Kick-Off 3pm unless stated)

Saturday

Leeds v Nott'm Forest  - 12.45pm
Hull v Millwall
Bristol City v Doncaster
Burnley v Ipswich
Cardiff v Derby
Coventry v Watford
Crystal Palace v Barnsley
Middlesbrough v Leicester
Norwich v Scunthorpe
Preston v Swansea
Reading v Portsmouth
Monday
QPR v Sheffield Utd  -  7.45pm