When : Wednesday 17 August 2022, 8pm
Where : Madejski Stadium, Reading, RG2 0FL
Capacity : 24,161
Blackburn’s team bus is scheduled to turn up next, be good if it didn’t contain any players but, sadly, that’s probably a little on the unlikely side. This is the first serious test of the season from a club that looks (at this early stage anyway) to be one that will be giving serious attention to at least the play off places so Reading will need to be well organised and on their game to get be able to anything out of it, especially after the utterly hopeless performance at Rotherham.
The last away trip for the Rovers saw them return from Swansea with 3 points after a very comfortable 3-0 win which caught the eye a little amongst some even with Swansea’s recent run of poor home form. Previous home games for the Ewood boys have seen them brush aside QPR by 1-0 before WBA arrived on Sunday and were beaten by 2 goals to 1 so Blackburn are now one of the only 2 remaining clubs in the FL with a 100% success league record (the other club is Leyton Orient). Deep joy to that then, just what you want hoving into view when you have practically double figure injuries and a defence that in each game can’t give away goals quickly enough.
The most serious threat seems to be Ben Brereton (now with added Diaz since making the Chile squad (his mother is Chilean)) who is a fine player at this level as the 22 goals (37 apps) last season shows and if Blackburn can hang onto him in this window then I reckon they will certainly be amongst those thinking of making a claim for an end of season promotion party. The summer also saw the Rovers acquire Sammie Szmodics from Peterborough and Callum Brittain from Barnsley while the continuing presence of Sam Gallagher shows a very useful squad indeed. Interestingly an early leader in the goal scoring stakes at Ewood is defender Lewis Travis which would immediately suggest some decent dead ball expertise at corners and free-kicks so would suggest Reading really don’t want to be presenting too many of those situations to Blackburn on the night.
It is rumoured Reading have a match fit outfield senior professional somewhere but obviously Paul Ince is keeping quiet about just who that player is to try and keep Blackburn’s new manager, Jon Dahl Tomassen, guessing about team selection.
Referee
Keith "5 years and 9 games since a Reading win" Stroud
Previously
02 Apr 2022 > Barnsley 1-1 Reading
19 Dec 2020 > Brentford 3-1 Reading
07 Nov 2020 > Reading 0-3 Stoke City
08 Jan 2020 > Millwall 2-0 Reading
28 Sep 2019 > Swansea City 1-1 Reading
05 May 2019 > Reading 0-0 Birmingham City
10 Apr 2019 > Norwich City 2-2 Reading
27 Oct 2018 > Swansea City 2-0 Reading
28 Apr 2018 > Reading 0-4 Ipswich Town
02 Dec 2017 > Sunderland 1-3 Reading
04 Nov 2017 > Derby County 2-4 Reading
01 Apr 2017 > Reading 1-0 Leeds United
14 Feb 2017 > Reading 3-2 Brentford
19 Nov 2016 > Reading 3-0 Burton Albion
28 Dec 2015 > Reading 1-2 Brentford
07 Nov 2015 > Cardiff City 2-0 Reading
03 Oct 2015 > Reading 2-0 Middlesbrough
14 Apr 2015 > Reading 0-1 Bournemouth
29 Mar 2014 > Reading 1-1 Huddersfield Town
11 Jan 2014 > Watford 0-1 Reading
13 Aug 2011 > Leicester City 0-2 Reading
03 Apr 2010 > Ipswich Town 2-1 Reading
06 Feb 2010 > Doncaster Rovers 1-2 Reading
29 Dec 2007 > Tottenham Hotspur 6-4 Reading
22 Sep 2007 > Reading 2-1 Wigan Athletic
25 Feb 2006 > Reading 2-1 Preston North End
23 Aug 2005 > Reading 3-1 Swansea City (League Cup)
Historically
Reading hadn't played a league game against Blackburn until a 1-1 draw on Saturday 1st December 1979. Since then there's been a further 12 visits from the Rovers and it's a case of 6 wins to Reading and 3 to Blackburn. Apart from one game, things have tended to be very close affairs with a goal deciding it or more than likely no goals happening whatsoever.
How to follow the game
- Ticket up and go
- Listen to Radio 5 Live and/or a myriad of other radio stations for score flashes
- Ring/text a mate for updates
- Use a RoyalTV subscription
- Red button
- BBC Radio Berkshire (FM : 104.4, 104.1 or 95.4 depending where you are in the area)