Reading v Charlton
League Championship
Saturday 8th November 2014, KO 3PM
Madejski Stadium
Referee: Neil Swarbrick
Reading (13th)
Form (all comps): WLWLL
Reading v Rotherham: 3-0
Blackburn v Reading: 3-1
Reading v Blackpool: 3-0
Bournemouth v Reading: 3-0
Reading v Derby: 0-3
Two wins in three games and Reading are hauling themselves back up the Championship table. Tuesday nights 3-0 victory over Rotherham was secured thanks to a double from Simon Cox after Jamie Mackie had opened the scoring with a wonderful left-footed curling effort around the keeper from inside the box. The result saw the Royals climb up to 13th in the table and they are now hot on the heels of this afternoon’s opponent Charlton Athletic who are 3 points and places ahead of them in 10th. Today's match will prove a sterner test than the ones faced against Blackpool and Rotherham in Reading’s last two home games not least because they lie above them in the table and have recorded some good results so far this season.
Charlton (10th)
Form (all comps): DDLWL
Leeds v Charlton: 2-2
Charlton v Sheffield Wednesday: 1-1
Fulham v Charlton: 3-0
Charlton v Bolton: 2-1
Bournemouth v Charlton: 1-0
Charlton’s flying start to the season, which saw them go unbeaten in their first 11 games, has now petered out and they have now only won once in their last five games and haven’t won on the road since September. They have beaten some of the recent league leaders this season in Watford and Derby and only narrowly lost to Bournemouth so they know how to get results against the better sides in this division. Tuesday nights draw with Leeds saw them go behind twice but each time they battled back and secured a point and it’s this resilient quality that will make them a hard side to beat and Reading will need to be switched on in defence and attack if they are to take anything from today’s game.
Last five meetings
05 Apr 2014 Charlton v Reading W 0-1 League Championship
03 Dec 2013 Reading v Charlton W 1-0 League Championship
23 Aug 2011 Charlton v Reading L 2-1 Carling Cup
10 Mar 2009 Reading v Charlton D 2-2 League Championship
23 Aug 2008 Charlton v Reading L 4-2 League Championship
Head to Head
These teams have met 37 times before in all competitions with Reading winning 14, Charlton 12 and 11 have ended in a draw. Reading won both home and away against Charlton last season, the game at The Valley was won thanks to a Danny Williams strike while Billy Sharp secured victory with his goal at the Madejski.
Team News
Reading: Anton Ferdinand suffered a calf injury in Tuesday’s win over Rotherham and won’t feature again until after the international break. Danny Williams and Stephen Kelly could both feature from the start again after coming through the Rotherham game unscathed. Garath McCleary has received the all clear to return to first team action but lacks match fitness. Jem Karacan and Shaun Cummings are both still out along with Danny Guthrie and Craig Tanner.
Charlton: Top scorer Igor Vetokele has recovered from an Achilles injury to come on from the bench in Charlton’s last too games and could feature this afternoon. Johann Berg Gudmundsson who has also been on the sidelines recently returned to score both goals against Leeds on Tuesday night and will be available to start against the Royals. Rhoys Wiggins fractured his foot against Leeds and will be out for the foreseeable future. Arsenal loanee Francis Coquelin and new signing Oguchi Onyewu will both be available after featuring at Elland Road. Simon Church however is still recovering from a shoulder injury picked up playing for Wales.
Prediction: Reading 2-1 Charlton
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