Key Battles: Reading FC v Fulham

Liam Kelly vs Kevin McDonald

The Scotsman who completed a move to Craven Cottage from Wolves in the summer has made a decent impact so far for the Whites with three goals and four assists. Last season McDonald scored three goals and got two assists for his former side.

The 28 year old can either play in central midfield or as a defensive midfield player and from having looked at his playing record from this campaign, McDonald is expected to play in the latter. This will mean that he will be looking to break up play and stop Reading's creative midfield players from supplying the forwards.

It will be therefore be interesting as to how Liam Kelly copes with him. The 21 year old Irishman, who was once again the best player on the pitch in the 3-2 defeat at Derby last time out, assisted in that game John Swift and then Yakou Meite for his first senior goal.

In that game, Kelly was always looking to make things happen with his passing and his vision, and will similarly be tasked with providing Yann Kermorgant and Garath McCleary against Fulham. If he can do this then this will provide Reading with an advantage in their hopes of getting back to winning ways.

Liam Moore vs Chris Martin

Chris Martin made the surprise loan move from Derby on deadline day and is Fulham's main threat up front. Whilst at Derby, the 28 year old scored 63 goals in 163 appearances, showing just how lethal he is when given the right service.

He was expected to play in the original game at the Madejski, but he wasn't involved due to reportedly trying to force a move back to his parent club.

The striker may lack pace, but he makes up for it with technique, strength, fantastic heading ability and being so clinical in front of goal. This season Martin has hit the back of the net nine times in 24 appearances, with two of those coming against Reading in that awful afternoon down at Craven Cottage.

The best person to deal with this would be Liam Moore, the centre back who missed the game down in South West London and should hopefully provide the solidity in defence that was clearly lacking in the last full meeting between the two sides.

Moore has delivered when it matters; the performances against Barnsley, Brighton in the EFL Cup and Norwich spring to mind. He will have to be at that level on Tuesday night if he is stop a man who can punish any defence if given the right service.

However, the former Leicester man was arguably at fault for Derby's second goal at the weekend, when his pass from the back was intercepted allowing Tom Ince to score. This is something that the whole Reading defence has to cut out if they are to keep their push for the Play Offs on track.

Danny Williams vs Stefan Johansen

Johansen signed from Scottish Premiership champions Celtic in the summer and the 25 year-old has made a fantastic impact since joining Fulham, going on to become one of the first players on manager Slavisa Jokanovic's team sheet.

So far this season the Norwegian has scored five goals and has five assists to his name, with one of those goals coming in the win against Reading at the start of the month.

Looking to keep him quiet will be Danny Williams, whose physical approach and ability to drive forward with the ball could make him the best person to stop Johansen from dictating the play.

During Fulham's 1-1 draw at QPR the Whites kept 75% possession and had an 85% successful pass completion. This is something that Reading cannot afford to let Fulham do, so it will be up to Williams to break the play up when they haven't got the ball.

Here's a video of Johansen showcasing his talent during his time at Celtic.