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After an exciting draw with Leeds and a battering from Wolves on Tuesday, Reading now find themselves with a tough mountain to climb in a bid to steer clear of the drop. Time is running out to gamble on relying on other teams to slip up as the Royals now sit just six points above 22nd placed Birmingham City.
They face a Norwich Side slipping out of mid-table security but pose a deadly threat. I don’t need to remind Reading fans of what happened last time we played the Canaries at Carrow Road. Can Reading sneak a result to rescue their season or will Norwich inflict another defeat on this poor season?
Reading
Form (all competitions): DLDDL
Reading will be assessing the fitness of Liam Kelly, John Swift and Chris Martin for this key fixture. All three missed Tuesday’s embarrassment at Wolves through injury or illness. Yann Kermorgant made the bench after a spell out so could start alongside Bödvarsson or make his return from the bench. Meanwhile, Jordan Obita, Omar Richards, Paul McShane, Tommy Elphick and Garath McCleary will be unavailable.
The Royals will look to regain their striking instinct as on Tuesday night they only registered one shot on target! This game is vital for Stam’s men to distance themselves from the drop as they face fellow struggles QPR on Good Friday then followed by a tough test at Villa Park on April 3rd.
While the relegation teams are dropping points, it will restore some confidence of staying up if they get a win this weekend!
Top goal scorer: Jon Dadi Bödvarrson (10, all competitions)
Norwich City
Form (all competitions): DDDLD
Like Reading, Norwich have had a dreadful season, sitting 14th in the league. Their high expectations of promotion this season have been crushed by injuries, poor performances and influential players leaving.
The Canaries are experiencing an injury crisis of their own - influential midfielder Alex Tettey going off injured on a stretcher during their draw with Barnsley. His injury means he joins Moritz Leitner in the treatment room. Louis Thompson, Tom Trybull, Marco Stiepermann, Matt Jarvis and Nelson Oliveira could all also be out.
Norwich have played out five draws in their last games which shows they are failing to take chances to get results. The game against the Royals has come at a right time so they can start building form to take into next season where they will hope to push for promotion. However, that’s what Reading fans thought last season and look where we are now!
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Top goalscorer: James Maddison (13, all competions)
What do the stats say?
- Reading have not won a game of football since January 30 (the 3-1 win at Burton Albion).
- The Canaries have failed to keep clean sheets against Reading in their last 13 home matches against Reading. The last one was a 0-0 draw in October 1997.
- Against Wolves on Tuesday, Reading only managed two shots in the entire game. The last shot was on target in the 90th minute.
How can I follow the game?
Audio coverage is on BBC Radio Berkshire at 104.4, but not available online. Coverage is also available on the EFL iFollow service but no video coverage will be streaming the game. Full match highlights will be available on the app after the game.
Reading Football Club will post highlights of the game on their respected social media pages and YouTube channel.