News and Views
Injury Hit Royals Head To Middlesbrough
29 August 2014
By Hob Nob Anyone?
Reading head to Middlesbrough this weekend to resume Championship duty with a squad that is thinner than ever thanks to player departures and a huge injury list that just gets bigger and bigger. The Royals are already showing a huge deficit in numbers thanks to outgoing transfers. The completion of the McCarthy transfer to QPR for three million pounds is still waiting final confirmation but essentially he too is no longer a Royal. Meanwhile Reading could hardly be described as active on incoming transfers with a well publicised lack of money and a takeover from a Thai consortium that may take complete sometime this decade.
Having played the first part of the season missing key players things have got worse for Reading boss Nigel Adkins as last years player of the season Jordan Obita joined the ranks of the injured. Pavel Pogrebnyak is still ruled out with a calf injury and now Shaun Cummings is the latest crocked player getting injured midweek to leave Reading looking very bare down the left. Players who would definitely be playing if they weren't suffering from long term injuries include Danny Williams, Danny Guthrie and Jem Karacan. Anton Ferdinand still appears to be unable to play due to a long time out of the game. The lack of choice for Adkins does make you wonder exactly what Roysten Drenthe did to be cast aside, as he remains without a squad number despite still being contracted Reading Football Club.
Reading's visit to Middlesbrough will be the last game for a couple of weeks thanks to the International break - and there's no doubt that the break couldn't have come at a better time for Reading. The Royals are struggling in the league having lost the last two games, including last weekend's 0-4 thrashing at Nottingham Forest. Middlesbrough have two more points than Reading after winning twice but were beaten 2-3 at home by Sheffield Wednesday in their last league fixture. Reading's last trip to Middlesbrough resulted in the Royals getting stuffed 0-3 - a scoreline that many fans are predicting to happen once again.
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