Reading welcome Cardiff City to the Madejski Stadium in a crunch clash for the Sky Bet Championship play-offs in Friday Night Football.
Victory will see Reading stay seventh but move to within two points of Bournemouth and Barnsley who occupy the last two play-off spots.
Cardiff meanwhile will stay eighth no matter what they do here, although a win would put them nine points behind the Cherries and Royals as their play-off hopes continue to slowly fade.
Team News
Felipe Araruna is in contention to return for Reading after several months out with a knee injury.
Tom McIntyre (quad) and Michael Morrison (hamstring) remain ruled out.
Cardiff will be without Lee Tomlin as he continues to struggle to recover from a lengthy groin injury.
Tom Sang, Jordi Osei-Tutu (both hamstring), Joe Bennett (knee), Joel Bagan (shoulder), Sol Bamba (illness) and Isaac Vassell (quad) remains absent.
Stat Attack
- Reading are unbeaten in their last eight league meetings against Cardiff (W4, D4).
- Cardiff have claimed three points from their last five trips to Reading’s Madejski Stadium (D3, L2).
- Reading has scored three goals in two of their last three home matches (W2, D1).
- Eight of Kieffer Moore’s 16 league goals for Cardiff this season have come away from home.
- Reading lost their only previous home league game refereed by John Brooks this season, losing 3-0 to Preston in early November 2020.
Prediction
Having dropped out of the play-off spots after a lack of clinical finishing cost them at Watford last weekend and left them five points adrift in seventh, Reading really need to pull out a top performance here if they’re to keep the pressure firmly on Barnsley and Bournemouth.
Cardiff meanwhile simply need a win because any other result could well see them mathematically knocked out of contention come Sunday, but they just haven’t really got going since returning from the international break and just one win in their last four away games is a concern.
On that note, Reading should look to make their strong recent home form count because Cardiff’s defence just seems vulnerable on the road at present but should make a tough enough contest to snatch a point otherwise this will be a home win.
Prediction: Reading 1-1 Cardiff
Result: Reading 1-1 Cardiff