When : Wednesday 29th September 2021, 7.45pm
Where : Pride Park Stadium, Derby, DE24 8XL
Reading take what remains of their squad up to Derby for a tricky away game in midweek. Not only is it tricky given the unbelievable injury problems, but also because of Reading’s utterly appalling away league record in midweek fixtures which currently stands at 4 wins from 44 attempts over the last 7 years (and trickier still when you realise that all 4 of those wins were at teams beginning with the letter B; Birmingham, Burton, Bristol and Blackburn - of course if Derby could rename themselves as Berby for the game it might help matters).
Derby are fairly useful this season (sadly taking 12 points off them won’t suddenly make them awful) and have brought in several players on short term deals such as Ravel Morrison, Phil Jagielka and our very own Sam Baldock.
Despite their monetary problems and the inexperience of Wayne Rooney as manager, the Rams have solidified greatly over the close season and now are team that is very difficult to beat as a point at the Hawthorns and a home win over the Potters goes a little way to show.
Still on their books is Tom Lawrence who is a regular pain for Reading and I have no doubt that the aforementioned Sam Baldock will have blinder against his mates of only 3 months or so ago. The other one to watch out for is leading scorer Curtis Davies which means Derby deliver some presence from set pieces - something ideal for Reading’s unique take on zonal marking then. Add to that their latest wonder youngster (and allegedly a Reading target), Louie Sibley, and it’s going to take some good organisation amongst what’s left of Reading to get over the line.
Derby will be without their keeper, Kelle Roos, following his dismissal at Bramall Lane on Saturday while the Reading injured list is now into double figures (Araruna, Dann, Rinomhota, Moore, Morrison, Joao, Meite, McIntyre, Holmes and Azeez) though it is hoped that Dann and Rinomhota will make the game. That said perhaps we Junior Hoilett and Dejan Tetek can replace them after the ‘boro game - or perhaps they’ll just be added to the list to make it a full XI to choose from. And why not, the more injured the merrier I say.
Referee
John Busby takes charge of his first ever Reading game in only his 5th game at Championship level.
Historically
Reading have largely had the upper hand in games against Derby registering almost twice as many wins (26) in all competitions.
In the league this game will be the 45th time the two sides have met with all games having been played since 1984 – a drab 0-0 at Elm Park (so, on average, it's been roughly one game a year since then and just goes to show how the once mighty have fallen over the last 4 decades). The return from the 22 previous league trips to Derby is 10 wins, 3 draws and 9 defeats which is really rather good when you consider that Derby have always been a fairly decent top two division team.
How to follow the game
- Get a ticket
- Listen to Radio 5 Live and/or a myriad of other radio stations for score flashes
- Red button
- Ring/text a mate for updates
- Use the RoyalsTV subscription
- BBC Radio Berkshire (FM : 104.4, 104.1 or 95.4 depending where you are in the area)