When : Saturday 18th November, 3pm
Where : Madejski Stadium, Reading, RG2 0FL
Capacity : 24,161
Game in hand time at last. 3 points here will see Reading climb TWO places and above QPR and Barnsley themselves into the heady heights of 16th place. A six goal win for the Royals would also see them motor past the mighty Brentford into 15th place. And who said the season's over?
Don't think I've ever seen good entertaining game with Barnsley though. They always seem to be dour miserable affairs that Reading struggle in and either end up losing or being frustrated into conceding another two points, and given the events of this season so far expectation is not high that this will be any different. However as it isn't being played on a Saturday there is a chance that Reading might actually see 3 points come their way from a home game.
Barnsley have only failed to score in one of their previous eight league games away from home and appear to be relatively free of injury and suspension worries with both Tom Bradshaw and ex Reading youth product (and now Barnsley captain) Angus Macdonald having returned to face Leeds.
Reading's injury problems are well known. Hopefully all who played against Sheffield came through OK although if there is a doubt to add to the list it may be Leandro Bacuna who looked to pick up a bit of an ankle knock in the second half though he did see the game out.
Referee
Because he's been told he has to referee this fixture until something entertaining happens, Lancashire's Darren Bond will again be in charge
Previous games
11 Feb 17 > Reading 0-0 Barnsley
13 Aug 16 > Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-0 Reading
14 Mar 2015 > Watford 4-1 Reading
30 Aug 2014 > Middlesbrough 0-1 Reading
Historically
Recently Barnsley have had an annoying habit of turning up, being dour, and going home with 3 points. In fact they've won 3 of their last 4 visits, a run that was only assuaged by last season's tediously dull 0-0.
Overall though this game is their 34th league trip to Reading and they've only won 6 of the previous 33 games in total compared to Reading's 17 victories. Of the 10 league draws in Reading, a whopping 8 of them have finished 0-0
How to follow the game
- Get a ticket and travel to the Mad Stad
- Listen to Radio 5 Live and/or a myriad of other radio stations for score flashes
- Ring/text a mate for updates
- Use an iFollow subscription
- BBC Radio Berkshire (FM : 104.4, 104.1 or 95.4 depending where you are in the area)