When : Saturday February 24 2024, 3pm
Where : SCL Stadium, Reading, RG2 0FL
Capacity : 24,161
Shrewsbury Town arrive next for their first visit to Reading (and their first ever visit to the SCL/Mad Stad) since losing 2-1 at Elm Park in February 1992. While this game would seem to be a foregone conclusion one should be reminded of the countless occasions, in recent seasons, in which a supposed struggling team turns up at Reading only to find that there is much charitable good will about the place.
The Shrews are on a run of 1 win in 7, or 2 wins in 12. They've lost 4 of those 7 (or 8 of those 12) but have managed to collect 4 points from their last 2 away games (1-1 at Derby and 2-0 at Northampton) so are capable on their travels and could therefore be dangerous opposition.
Shrewsbury are also possibly still experiencing a bit of the proverbial new manager "bounce", certainly as regards away games anyway. Paul Hurst was (re)appointed manager in late January (he was their manager when they reached the L1 play offs in 2018) and this will be his third away game in his second spell as Shrews manager and he hasn't been beaten yet.
Shrewsbury are 19th in the division, 3 points (instead of 7) behind Reading and 2 points above the relegation spots so are in a very nervous situation, especially given the games in hand that Vale and Cheltenham have so may try and "dig in" to hang on to the point they start out with. They are the lowest scorers away from home having managed only 7 goals in the league all season but it should be noted that 3 of those goals have been scored in their last 2 away games so would seem to be improving greatly on their travels after managing just 4 goals in the previous 14 league visits this season.
Striker Daniel Udoh with 5 is Shrewsbury's leading scorer while defender Chey Dunkley is next highest with 4 which would suggest some prowess at set pieces to watch out for, but then Ruben Selles should be well aware of that after the injury time "moments" from their visit to the New Meadow back in November.
Tom Holmes, Mamadi Camara and Jeriel Dorsett are all still out and don't think anyone has been added to that list from the Port Vale exertions on Tuesday so hopefully not too much disruption to the current team selection will be necessary especially with a clear week to follow before the long haul to Carlisle.
Other L1 games this weekend
Wigan v Cheltenham (Friday night)
Barnsley v Derby
Blackpool v Bolton
Bristol Rovers v Carlisle
Burton v Northampton
Cambridge v Peterborough
Charlton v Portsmouth
Exeter v Fleetwood
Oxford v Orient
Port Vale v Lincoln
Stevenage v Wycombe
Referee
Ollie Yates
Previously
9 Dec 23 > Reading 1-3 Barnsley
Historically
The first game against Shrewsbury was played at Elm Park on Wednesday 22 August 1951 and saw Reading win 6-2, since then there have been another 25 games in the league in Reading so this is the 27th season shared with Shropshire's finest.
Current record at home is 14 Reading wins to 6 Shrewsbury wins with 57 scored and 33 conceded, games are usually fairly lively but they are certainly an opposition that need to be taken seriously and given due respect.
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 a RoyalTV subscription
- BBC Radio Berkshire (FM : 104.4, 104.1 or 95.4 depending where you are in the area)
