View From The Town End: Hull City AFC

Big thanks to Hull fan Les from the Amber Nectar podcast who's kindly shared his thoughts with us ahead of tonight's game.

How would you sum up Hull's season so far?

We've had one month where we've played as advertised, given that many feel we have the strongest side in the division, winning all of our games in November. Beyond that, we've been a bit frustrating, proving hard to beat with a good defence, but not entirely convincing creatively and up front, despite remaining with the title chasing pack.

Given the money spent in 2014/15 and the players retained after some inevitable post-relegation selling, anything short of automatic promotion would be a failure for Steve Bruce, who hasn't been held to account by the owners for an entirely avoidable relegation. We've shown we have the capacity to be Champions, but not always the heart.

It feels weird expecting, nay demanding promotion to the Premier League given our mean status over the last 30 years (we've scratted around in the lower leagues for most of my supporting life), but the reality is the talent we have at our disposal doesn't lend itself to failure tolerance.

How have you rated the quality of the Championship compared to your previous spell?

It's impressive that in late December there are 5 teams with genuine title aspirations, rather than one team running away with it and a chasing pack far, far behind. Granted I'd have liked Hull City to have been that pacesetting side with one hand on the Championship trophy already to right the many wrongs of 2014/15, but the division is better for the competitiveness at the top. Overall I think the standard is good, no better and no worse than what it was in 2012/13 when we last left it after promotion. Although nobody truly wants to be in the second tier, it's a decent division that surprises and amazes in a way the top division never could.

Any fond or not so fond memories of games between the two sides?

Hmm, not really, that sounds bad doesn't it? But we're not sides that have played each other all that much and the encounters haven't been classics. When I think of Reading I remember the curry dye from a Madejski pie permanently staining my trainers and pondering the wind turbine.

Which Hull player should we be particularly wary of come Wednesday night?

We've a squad packed with players that can be electric when they're up for it and anonymous when they're not. If he's in the mood, Mohamed Diame can run a game. Defender Harry McGuire has been in excellent form of late, but it's tough for a centre-half to be a game changer.

Which Reading player are you not looking forward to facing?

Would be two if Stephen Quinn were fit, I think there will be a lot of rueing the loss of his services (hideously under-utilised by Steve Bruce) and Paul McShane (who was a cult hero to us).

Score prediction?

We've not been too good since the international break, 1-1 I think.

Finally, any advice for Reading fans making the trip?

A midweek game doesn't offer much scope for seeing Hull's best bits, and the area immediately surrounding the ground isn't that salubrious. Princes Avenue is a good drinking area for anyone who arrives early enough, and is not intolerant to away fans.

Thanks again to Les and you can follow the chaps from Amber Nectar on twitter @amber_nectar