Reading v Barnsley Preview

Both of these sides have completely different objectives going into the final stages of the season, with Reading aiming for promotion while Barnsley are doing everything in their power to avoid the drop. However, with recent form deserting both, it remains to be seen whether or not they meet their targets.

Reading were one of the favorites for automatic promotion at the start of the season and at one stage it looked as though that would be the case, although now it seems as though they’ll have to settle for a play off position. Steve Coppell’s men are sat in 5th position and with seven points separating them from Birmingham, it looks as though an automatic finish is now off the agenda. Considering recent form, they’ve got exactly what they’ve deserved. They’ve won just once in their last eight games and that simply isn’t sufficient for a side aiming to bounce straight back up to the top flight. Now it looks as though Coppell will have to rally his troops and make sure they can pick some results up and gather some form as they approach the play off games.

They may not be in the relegation zone and they may have a game in hand over their rivals, but many Barnsley fans are convinced that this is the season that will see them go down. The Tykes are currently sat in 21st position and are only being kept out of the bottom three due to goal difference. They’ve failed to win in their last five and having been heavily beaten 3-1 at home to Swansea in their last game, it would be fair to say that confidence isn’t high at Oakwell at the moment. With fixtures against Reading, Coventry, Wolves and Plymouth all remaining their run-in certainly isn’t the easiest and that’s meant that some supporters already believe that League One is their destiny.

As for team news, Reading will be without midfielder James Harper who’ll sit this one out with a groin injury, although they are hopeful over Kevin Doyle’s fitness after the striker missed training through a knee problem. Elsewhere, Kalifa Cisse and Brynjar Gunnarsson will probably need a little more time to recover from their injuries and won’t be risked in this one. It’s a different story for Barnsley, with the Tykes reporting no new problems. Simon Davey is expected to ring the changes following Monday’s defeat to Swansea, but on the injury front it’s all looking rosy.

They may have struggled recently, but there’s no doubt that on paper Reading are far superior to Barnsley. With that, although the Tykes know they desperately need a result and will battle for everything, we can only see a home win and predict a 2-0 score line.