Crystal Palace v Reading Preview
Posted on | March 21, 2009 | No Comments
Crystal Palace are one of the very few sides in the division that don’t have anything to play for, so it’ll be interesting to see how they adopt against promotion chasing Reading. This game is subject to a late kick off time so Reading will know exactly what they have to do, considering 2nd place Birmingham are in action hours before.
You can only describe Crystal Palace’s season so far as disappointing. Having made the play offs last season many expected Neil Warnock’s men to at least match that achievement, but that simply hasn’t been the case. The Eagles really have struggled and a 3-1 defeat to Barnsley on Tuesday ended any slim hopes they had of making the top six. Warnock came out and said afterwards that the last few weeks have taught him a lot and it’s clear to him that his side are nowhere good enough to achieve a play off position. With that, supporters should expect major changes for next season, although it remains to be seen how the current set of players will respond to that statement and whether or not they’ll be up for rising to the challenge.
As for Reading, the pressure really is on for Steve Coppell’s men at the moment with the Royals trailing Birmingham by four points, albeit with one game in hand. It wasn’t so long ago that pundits were tipping the Madejski side to easily glide into those automatic positions, but inconsistent form has meant that’s been unable to happen and now it’s going to go right down to the wire. Despite possessing immense attacking talent, Coppell’s men have really struggled in front of goal and that’s meant that victories have been hard to find. However, they won their last game 1-0 against Doncaster and with Donny being one of the in-form sides of the division; Coppell will be hoping they can build on that and catch up Birmingham.
In terms of team news, Claude Davis is touch and go for this one as the on loan centre half prepares for a late fitness test. Neil Warnock allowed Alan Lee to go out on loan earlier in the week so he won’t be involved, but other than that the Palace boss has no new concerns. The visitors have a few worries as Glen Little is doubtful, while Graham Murty and Ivar Ingimarsson are both definite absentees.
As for a prediction, we’re going to go for the favorites in this one. Reading may not have been as consistent as they would have liked in recent months, but we think their win over Doncaster will have given them great confidence and they’ll just about edge this one with a 1-0 win.
Related posts:
- Reading v Crystal Palce Preview
- Crystal Palace v Norwich Preview
- Scunthorpe v Crystal Palace Preview
- Burnley v Crystal Palace Preview
- Ipswich v Crystal Palace Preview
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