Another week has flown by and we're just under 24 hours away from another Championship game, with the Royals heading north to the Ricoh Arena to play struggling Coventry City. As usual we've gone out to find out what the opposition fans are thinking and today Neil Allison from Sky Blues Blog has been kind enough to help us out.
How have you rated your season so far?
If you'd asked me prior to Monday's defeat to Ipswich, I'd have said 'deceptively okay'. Given the minimal resources available to our boss Andy Thorn and the widespread prediction that we're fit for the drop, we haven't been as bad as our league position suggests. Second-best defence in the league (joint) and three games unbeaten, it was starting to look up. The spanking has knocked us a bit, but we're not the only ones to take one of them this season, so we're still getting a feel for how things might go.
What have you made of the Championship in general?
'Citin. Momentum is so valuable in this league, it's no surprise to me that the promoted teams have made such a good start. Rickie Lambert is going mental with goals at Southampton, and Brighton and Peterborough are proving that the days of an easy game against promoted sides are long gone. Forest and Birmingham's starts have been far naffer than I thought they'd be, but I fancy them to pick up eventually. As always there's going to be a whole load of everyone-beating-everyone, so I've finally given up on Championship accumulators - it's so easy to be wooed by the odds, but they're like that for a reason.
What's going wrong for Coventry at the moment, and do you think you'll turn it around?
Well, we lost all our players in the summer, and brought in a single striker as replacement. This all means that we have very little options, and while we've plenty of players in our first team who are more than capable of competing in this league, we've also got some players who are horribly inconsistent, but we have to play them because they're seen as senior. We've been promised some loan players soon, so that's giving us some hope. If we can bring in some more competition for places, that should at least prompt some of the under-performers to start pulling their fingers out.
Best memories of playing vs Reading
Remember Richie Partridge? Well, aside from being a must-sign on Champ Manager back in the day, he also had a gem of a season for us once. At the height of his powers, he was running defences ragged week after week, and he scored a wonder goal against your boys which I look back on with great fondness. Quite an obscure memory to pick out, but we don't get many moments of magic at Coventry, so that goal always sticks in my mind.
Worst memories of playing vs Reading
I can't remember the last time we actually beat you, so a lot of our recent encounters have merged into a great big blob of annoyance. It's been a long time let's put it that way. We took a bit of a hiding both games the season before last I recall, and looking at the squad you had back then, I shudder to think what your team would do to our current line up. Rasiak is someone us Coventry fans used to hate lining up against us, and he bullied us in both games that year. Both results were a kick in the teeth, as at the time we were desperate to kick on a level under Coleman, and you showed on both occasions that we were still some way short.
Who should Royals fans fear on Saturday?
Young Cyrus Christie has been a revelation at right-back since he came into the team during pre-season. He didn't have the greatest of games against Ipswich on Monday, where he seemed very much in his shell. But he was Man of the Match against Derby the week before, and if he performs how he did in that game, he'll cause most teams grief. Cody McDonald is a our new striker who we picked up after we missed out on Le Fondre. He'll pretend he hasn't thought about it, but he may just have a few points to prove.
Who aren't you looking forward to seeing from Reading?
That's right - Adam Le Fondre. After a summer of being constantly linked with him, only for you to nip in and get him at the last minute, it seems written in the stars that he'll grab a goal against us to rub it in that little bit more. He's a natural goalscorer, so I fancy his first strike at the weekend ought to be enough to kick-start his career with you. McAnuff always shows his class against us too, so I'll be keeping a watchful eye on him.
Any tips for travelling fans?
Don't be fooled by the huge Tesco next door to the Ricoh. You can't park there unless you spend some money. Last time I heard it was £20, but it's either that or hanging around for a whole lot longer after the game waiting for the attendants to clear off. There are plenty of other car parks around the ground, they vary in price but most are around a fiver. Also, we unveiled a statue of Jimmy Hill during the summer, so if you've got time, pop round to the main entrance to have a look at that. Contrary to what you may hear by one of the many comedians who hang around, it actually looks very much like Jimmy Hill, and NOT Bruce Forsyth.
Score prediction?
Got draw written all over it, this one. An open 1-1 I reckon.
Thanks again to Neil and you can follow him on twitter @neilallison