View From The Town End: Bournemouth

How would you sum up Bournemouth's start to the season?

It's been difficult to be fair. When your team wins the first two games and goes top of the league the spotlight is really on them. I think that had an impact on the team in the first month, but when Bournemouth couldn't hold on to the leads that they were getting in games, a bit of confidence left the players for a while. Losing to Nottingham Forest and Leeds at home left a few doubts in the team's ability to beat the big teams at home. The run in the Capital One Cup though seemed to give renewed confidence to the club and the players have been really on it of late. The away form has been good though with excellent results against Norwich and Watford and now the home results are staring to come through strongly. Your boys could be in for a tough night!

Reading were heavily linked with recent Cherries signing Callum Wilson, how has he done so far on the South coast?

Yes, Reading and a couple of other Championship clubs tried to sign him ahead of us but the Cherries managed to secure his signature over the summer and we are mighty pleased about that. I have been extremely impressed by his speed and his finishing. I would not say he is the complete striker yet, but he has taken to the Championship really well and he is not afraid of one on one situations. Without his goals AFC Bournemouth would be a lot lower in the table so he is certainly doing his job well at the moment.

Any fond memories of games between the two sides?

My first match as a Bournemouth supporter was against Reading back in 1981 in the FA Cup. You had a certain Mr Kerry Dixon and Neil Webb playing for you then which I think was a big draw for our fans to see them play. I don't remember too much about the match but it did not put me off as I was back the next week. Nigel Spackman was our best player at that time and he went on to play at Chelsea just like Kerry Dixon.

To be fair Reading have been in a higher division that Bournemouth for many years and it is great that both teams are in the Championship rather than battling out in League One. Last season of course we did the double over Reading and I was at the game at the Madejski Stadium. Reading fans were giving us a lot of stick and I thought in the first 20 minutes the Royals should have been two or three up, but when those chances did not go in Reading paid the price. It turned our season around and we never looked back after that.

Any not so fond ones?

I suppose the 1-2 defeat we had at Dean Court in the 2000-01 season was a painful one as we missed out on the play-offs, finishing seventh just two points off sixth place and Reading finished third that season. Jermaine Defoe got us the lead but Cureton and Butler scored for Reading to win the game.

Who should Reading fans be wary of on Tuesday night?

Obviously, Callum Wilson will be the main man for your central defenders to deal with. The goals have not been flowing from other areas of our team and that is where Eddie Howe will want to see an improvement. Our wingers especially need to do better and Matt Ritchie and Marc Pugh will be aiming to get on the score sheet. It may be though that Brett Pitman grabs his opportunity with Yann Kermirgant out of the team. Brett is also the penalty taker in Yann's absence.

Anyone that Bournemouth fans aren't looking forward to facing?

Glenn Murray is the key man that I am sure Eddie Howe will be telling his players to force out wide rather than letting him get strikes on goal. I thought he was unlucky not to score against Derby in your last match. The wing play of Robson-Kanu is another one that I think our players will know all about.

Score prediction?

I am a bit worried here as I correctly predicted 1-0 against Charlton in our last match. Before last weekend I said we would should be happy with four points from the two games and I stand by that. Back to back wins are hard to achieve in this league, so I am going for a 1-1 draw.

Finally any advice for Reading fans making the trip down?

There are a couple of pubs in Boscombe that will take away supporters, but the close pubs of the Portman and Queens Park Hotel don't let away fans in. So I suggest Reading fans get down as early as they can if they want a pre-match drink. The Bell pub in Pokesdown is under new management and is not too far away and the Sir Percy Florence pub is in walking distance, but does get busy.

Make sure you also have a look at the Wall of Fame on your way to the away stand as you'll see some really old Bournemouth teams and also some familiar names who have played for the club and believe it or not their are some internationals among them.

Thanks again to Peter and you can follow him on twitter @PeterBell19