McCarthy: Same Performance But Better Result Friday, 15th Aug 2014 14:39 Boss Mick McCarthy is looking for a repeat of last year’s performance at Reading but with a better result when the Blues visit the Madejski Stadium on Saturday afternoon. McCarthy, who has added Derby striker Conor Sammon to his squad on loan, will be able to call on all the players who missed the trip to Crawley in the week, except midfielder Cole Skuse, who is a doubt with a foot problem, and longer-term absentees Stephen Hunt and Cameron Stewart. The Blues travelled to Berkshire on the opening day of last season and were unfortunate to lose 2-1 having gone ahead via former Royals midfielder Jay Tabb, before Adam Le Fondre and Danny Guthrie hit back for the home side. “It was a deflection that beat us in the end,” McCarthy recalled. “The first goal was really disappointing because Tyrone Mings had been brilliant but he’d strained his medial ligament and continued to play on. “He couldn’t really get his head on the ball and it went for a corner and they scored from the second corner afterwards. “That was disappointing because it was just before half-time and I thought we’d murdered them up until then, we were by far the better team. “And then they got a deflection of Luke Hyam which was the winner. So, we came away with nothing, except the fact that we’d played well and knowing that we could cope and contend with teams who had just dropped out of the Premier League.” Town avenged that defeat with a 2-0 win at Portman Road in January, which McCarthy felt was one of last season’s best performances: “When they came here and played us I thought they had a really strong squad and we had to play really well to beat them. “It was a fairly even game, we played well that day. I seem to remember them starting well. “There was a bit of upheaval there with the takeover bid and, from what at the start of the season looked set to be great campaign, it seemed to going a little bit wrong. And, of course, there’s another takeover now.” Town might be meeting the Royals - who drew 2-2 at Wigan last week before beating Newport County 3-1 in the Capital One Cup on Tuesday - at a good time with a number of senior players out injured. McCarthy admits that he was unfamiliar with some of the players manager Nigel Adkins fielded against the Latics and in friendlies. “I think he’s having to push the kids forward because he’s got injuries,” he said. “We’ve just been looking at their game from Saturday and some of the pre-season games and I didn’t know some of them that were playing. “I was saying ‘where’s so and so?’, ‘injured’ I was told. Anton Ferdinand is very experienced and a good player at this level, although I don’t think he’s ready to play yet, I don’t know what pre-season he’s had or games he’s played. “Jamie Mackie and Simon Cox from Nottingham Forest, I think they’re terrific signings. Certainly I would have been delighted to have them. Anybody in the Championship would take those two, I think they’re really good players.” He says he expects the Royals to be contenders come May: “If that takeover goes through, having signed Cox, having signed Mackie and Ferdinand, they’re a top six team all day long. “I don’t think there’s any doubt about that, especially with Nigel Adkins, who has the experience of doing it before. Certainly top six.” McCarthy is likely to revert largely to the team which beat Fulham last weekend with Dean Gerken in goal, Mings at left-back, skipper Luke Chambers on the right and Tommy Smith and Christophe Berra at the centre of the defence. In central midfield, Anthony Wordsworth is likely to replace Skuse alongside Luke Hyam if the ex-Bristol City man fails to make it. Tabb will keep his place on the left against his old club with the Town boss having a decision to make on the right. Paul Anderson is now over his hamstring injury but McCarthy has been impressed with Elliott Hewitt in recent games. However, the Blues manager may opt to bring Anderson into the side with Hewitt having played the full 120 minutes at Crawley on top of the whole of the Fulham game. Up front, David McGoldrick is set to make his first start of the season alongside Daryl Murphy. McGoldrick, who will be playing only his second competitive game after returning from his knee problems, is likely to be replaced towards the hour mark with new addition Sammon, Balint Bajner, Frank Nouble and Jack Marriott amongst the candidates to take over. For Reading, centre-half Sean Morrison has joined Cardiff City in a £4 million deal, while Hal Robson-Kanu, Jem Karacan, Stephen Kelly and Danny Williams (all knee) and Garath McCleary (back) are all expected to miss out through injury. The Berkshire side have confirmed that last year’s winning goalscorer Danny Guthrie won’t play as his calf problem requires further investigation and that recent additions Ferdinand and Mackie aren’t fit enough to be involved, with the latter carrying a hamstring injury. Royals boss Nigel Adkins expects a tough game, telling Reading's official site: "They’re a very good side and a massive challenge for us. We played them on the first game of last season and it was a close encounter. "They're a good football team — they’ve got a big side as well so from a set pieces point of view they’ve got six big ’uns in there who will cause a threat from set plays, but they can play also football with the wide players coming off the line. "Mick’s a great manager and I’ve got massive respect for him, so we’re under no illusions this is going to be a really challenging fixture for us. "They got off to a good start last week, beating Fulham. But we’re at home and everyone’s going to get behind the players. We’ve got a young, ambitious group of players who have started the season well and we’re looking forward to the game." Town have just about had the better of the Royals historically, winning 23 times (22 in the league), drawing nine (nine) and losing 19 (19). When the sides met at Portman Road in January, second-half goals from Murphy and sub Anderson saw Town to a 2-0 home victory. After an even first half in which the visitors were aggrieved at not being awarded a penalty, the Blues were on top after the break with Murphy opening the scoring in the 62nd minute and Anderson adding a late second. On the opening day of last season at the Madejski Stadium, Tabb netted his first ever goal at his old home ground in the 16th minute but the Royals drew level just before the break via what appeared to be a Mings own goal, but which was ultimately credited to Le Fondre. Guthrie’s deflected 30-yard strike won it with 15 minutes to go. Tabb joined the Blues in the summer of 2013 having been released by the Royals at the end of the previous season following a loan spell at Portman Road. He had been at the Madejski Stadium for four and a half years, during which time he helped them to the 2011/12 Championship-winning squad. Stephen Hunt, who is back in training after his calf problem, was a Reading player between June 2005 and August 2009 and was a member of the 2005/06 squad which won the Championship. Reading keeper Alex McCarthy who is likely to be on the bench on Saturday, spent time on loan at Portman Road during 2011/12, making 10 appearances. Saturday’s referee is Simon Hooper from Wiltshire, who showed 126 yellow cards and six red in 35 games last season. Hooper was in charge of the Wolves-Norwich match on the opening weekend of the season in which he booked four and red-carded Canaries full-back Martin Olsson. Hooper’s most recent Town match was the 1-0 win at Yeovil in March in which he booked Luke Hyam, Stephen Hunt and one home player. Town squad from: Gerken, Bialkowski, Chambers (c), Mings, Parr, Berra, Smith, Skuse, Hyam, Wordsworth, Bru, Tabb, Anderson, Hewitt, Henshall, McGoldrick, Murphy, Sammon, Bajner, Nouble, Marriott.
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