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Huddersfield Town FC v Reading FC
FA Cup 3rd Round
Saturday 3rd December, KO 3PM
The John Smith’s Stadium
Referee: Philip Gibbs
Reading
Form (all comps): WDLLD
Reading v Norwich: 2-1
Brighton v Reading: 2-2
Reading v Watford: 0-1
Birmingham v Reading: 6-1
Reading v Bolton: 0-0
Reading come into this one on the back of a moral boosting home win against Norwich on Sunday. The Royals recorded their first win under Steve Clarke and their second 2-1 victory against the Canaries in under a month due to the way the fixtures have fallen. Similar to the Boxing Day fixture against Brighton, Reading established a 2-0 first half lead but unlike the Brighton game they managed to see out the win despite Norwich pulling a goal back through Bradley Johnson midway through the second half.
Steve Clarke will surely emphasise the need for his side to hold onto the advantages they create for themselves and they will have to do that without star striker Glenn Murray after his loan expired. The forward positions will be an area of concern for Reading’s new manager and it remains to be seen whether Reading can secure the services on Murray permanently, but indications are it remains unlikely.
Huddersfield
Form (all comps): WDLLW
Huddersfield v Bolton: 2-1
Rotherham v Huddersfield: 2-2
Huddersfield v Birmingham: 0-1
Norwich v Huddersfield: 5-0
Huddersfield v Brentford: 2-1
Manager: Chris Powell
Huddersfield come into this one after picking up 4 points from their two matches over the Christmas period. Chris Powell took Charlton to the quarterfinals of this competition last season and will be hoping to have a good run in the FA Cup with his new club. Huddersfield sit one point and two places below Reading in the Championship table and in their previous game they came from behind against Bolton to win 2-1 thanks to an 85th minute winner from Nahki Wells.
Last five meetings
19 Aug 2014 Reading v Huddersfield L 1-2 League Championship29 Mar 2014 Reading v Huddersfield D 1-1 League Championship
14 Dec 2013 Huddersfield v Reading W 0-1 League Championship
28 Oct 2003 Reading v Huddersfield W 1-0 Carling Cup
12 Jan 2002 Huddersfield v Reading W 0-1 League Division 2
Head to head
In all these teams have met 42 times before and it’s the Royals who have the far better record, winning 21 times to Huddersfield’s 12 with 9 draws. The teams met in the league in August with the Terriers running out 2-1 winners at Madejski Stadium thanks to goals from Jacob Butterfield and Harry Bunn with Simon Cox scoring for the Royals. Reading have won 3 out of their last 5 meetings in all competitions with their 3rd round opponents but they have only won 2 of their last 5 games away from home against Huddersfield.
Team News
Reading
Jem Karacan is back in the match day squad for the first time in over 14 months as he continues his comeback from a serious knee injury. Glenn Murray’s loan from Crystal Palace has expired with the striker returning to his parent club so Jamie Mackie could deputise. Danny Guthrie could make his first start since his injury after coming off the bench against Norwich last weekend. Garath McCleary limped out of the match against the Canaries but could still feature. Anton Ferdinand (calf), Hope Akpan (shoulder) and Pavel Pogrebnyak (calf) are all still out.
Huddersfield
Chris Powell will be without centre-back Joel Lynch (groin), while midfielder Sean Scannell (foot) may also miss out after picking up a knock in the win against Bolton last weekend.
Prediction
Huddersfield 1-2 Reading
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