Blues Visit Reading Looking to End Away Campaign on Positive Note Friday, 27th Apr 2018 11:23 Town visit Reading on Saturday for their final away game of the season, looking for their first point under caretaker-boss Bryan Klug and their first victory at the Madejski Stadium since March 2009. The Blues, who have been beaten in their last four on their travels, have deserved to take something from the first two matches of the four-game Klug era with Nottingham Forest having staged a late turnaround out of nothing to win 2-1 at the City Ground a fortnight ago before Aston Villa won 4-0 at Portman Road last weekend, Town having been reduced to 10 men following Grant Ward’s red card. Chris Hogg, who is assisting Klug along with Gerard Nash, says the Royals will be far from easy opposition as they seek the point which will mathematically confirm their Championship status after a disappointing season having been beaten on penalties by Huddersfield in the play-off final last May. “Every game in this league is tough,” he said. “I’ve seen that in the short spell we’ve had in charge in the last two games. “Every game is really tough to get anything out of and you have to do the fundamentals to be in the game. “That will be no different at Reading. They’re obviously fighting for their lives in a way, I think they need a point to make themselves safe, so we know they’re going to be fighting and scrapping, so we’ve got to match that.
“Again, the boys know that and that’s the message we’ll be relaying. There’s no easy game but I’m more than confident that if we can scrap it out and do the things that we do well it’ll be a positive result for us.” While Klug selects the final XI, Hogg says he and Nash are involved in assessing the opposition, along with backroom staff such as club analyst Will Stevenson, and the decision-making process. “We work as a trio but I think Nashy covered that one a little last week in terms of we all have an input but Bryan decides the team,” he said. “If we can we’ll watch a live game, we’ll go and watch it, which myself and Gerard have done all season anyway for the gaffer [Mick McCarthy]. “We have all the analysis these days, we’ve got the last three, four or five games at the click of a button, so we all sit down, myself and Gerard will sit down and go through everything and pull things out that we want.
“Bryan will have an input on that as well and then we’ll relay that to the players and develop the game plan that way.” Whatever team Klug opts to pick Player of the Year Bartosz Bialkowski is all but certain to be in goal. The caretaker-boss will be forced into one change with Ward banned for three games following his sending off last week. With Dominic Iorfa out for the season with a groin problem and Barry Cotter having had more minor fitness issues - the Irish youngster was missing from the 18 against Villa - Klug could move Jordan Spence to right-back and switch to a back four, utilising a 4-3-3 system, a set-up usually employed by the Royals. That would see Jonas Knudsen partner Cameron Carter-Vickers at the centre of the defence with Myles Kenlock at left-back. In midfield, Cole Skuse would be joined by two of Tristan Nydam, Callum Connolly and Stephen Gleeson. If Klug opts for a three-man attack Martyn Waghorn would play down the centre with Bersant Celina, Mustapha Carayol, Ben Morris and Ben Folami all candidates for the wide roles. Alternatively, Klug could stick with the three-man backline and hand Chris Smith his Blues league debut and move Spence out to right wing-back with Waghorn forming a front two with Celina, Carayol, Morris or Folami. Another option is to start Luke Woolfenden, who has been recalled from Bromley, at right wing-back. For Reading, defenders Leandro Bacuna and Tyler Blackett are suspended, while Paul McShane is still out with a groin problem and winger Callum Harriott due to a hamstring injury. Defender Tommy Elphick and forward Joseph Mendes are both expected to return to the squad after knee problems. “It's another biggest game of the season. We didn't perform against Sheffield Wednesday.” Reading boss Paul Clement said at his pre-match press conference. “We've reflected on the Sheffield Wednesday game [last week, which they lost 3-0 at Hillsborough]. We have to move on quickly. If we win on Saturday we're safe.
“We will go about Saturday in a balanced approach. We won't throw the kitchen sink at them. “There's no pressure or nerves. There is a realism about the stage we're at. We had a couple of missed opportunities in the last two games. It's about moving on and focusing on Ipswich.” Regarding Town, he added: "Ipswich are a tough side, they were a tough team under Mick McCarthy and Bryan Klug is a man who has been at the club for a long time and knows the club well. "I've seen some of their performances and they're a dangerous side, so we'll have to take them seriously.” Town have just about had the better of the Royals historically, winning 25 times (24 in the league), drawing 10 (10) and losing 23 (23). The Blues most recent victory at the Madejski Stadium came in March 2009 when Jon Stead’s brilliant overhead kick saw Jim Magilton’s Blues to a 1-0 success. At Portman Road in December, first-half goals from Callum Connolly and Joe Garner saw Town to what in the end was a comfortable 2-0 victory over Reading at Portman Road. Connolly’s low shot gave the Blues the lead in the third minute, then Garner headed the second on 27. Last time at the Madejski Stadium, in September 2016, Danny Williams netted the game’s third penalty deep in second-half injury time to hand Reading a 2-1 victory over the Blues, Knudsen having been adjudged to have hauled down Joey van den Berg at a corner. In first-half injury time Ward had been harshly penalised for handball for the game’s first spotkick and McCleary put the Royals in front, then Brett Pitman fired home Town’s penalty five minutes after the break having been fouled by Tyler Blackett. Reading midfielder Stephen Quinn is the younger brother of ex-Blue Alan, while striker, Jon Dadi Bodvarsson, came close to joining the Blues on loan from Wolves in the summer but the Royals made a £3 million permanent offer for the Icelandic international. Midfielder John Swift had a trial with Town in November 2014 when a Chelsea player. Like Swift, Dutch midfielder Van den Berg similarly spent time on trial with the Blues, in September 2006 following his release by Heerenveen. Saturday’s referee is Keith Stroud, who has shown 132 yellow cards and seven red cards in 31 games so far this season. Stroud’s last Town match was the 4-1 defeat at Fulham in January in which he red-carded Jordan Spence and booked Luke Chambers, Joe Garner, Connolly, Waghorn and three Cottagers. Prior to that he was in charge of the 2-2 home draw with Sheffield Wednesday in November last year when he booked Skuse and one Owl. However, he failed to issue a card of either colour for Glenn Loovens’s groin-high horror challenge on McGoldrick. He also refereed the Blues’ 1-1 draw at Leeds in February in which he booked only Knudsen. Stroud was the man in the middle of the 3-2 win at Wigan in December 2016 in which he awarded the Blues a contentious penalty, which was converted by Brett Pitman, and booked the striker, Andre Dozzell, Tom Lawrence and three home players. Before that the veteran official was in charge of the 4-2 victory over Barnsley at Portman Road on the opening day of last season when he also awarded the Blues a penalty which was converted by McGoldrick. He booked Bru, Teddy Bishop and three Tykes. He also took control of the 3-2 home victory over the MK Dons in the final home match of 2015/16, in which he booked Smith and one opposition player and awarded the visitors a spotkick. Stroud also officiated in the 1-1 home draw with Birmingham in September 2015 in which he gave the Blues another penalty, again netted by Pitman, which was bitterly disputed by the visitors when Ainsley Maitland-Niles was felled by Jonathan Spector. He booked Berra, Jonathan Douglas and two visiting players. A former Premier League referee and one-time FIFA assistant, Stroud also refereed the 3-2 defeat at Brighton in January 2015 in which he booked Bru and Noel Hunt and one Seagull. He also took charge of the 1-0 home derby defeat to Norwich at Portman Road in August 2014 and Town’s 1-0 home victory over Birmingham in March of the same year. Squad from: Bialkowski, M Crowe, Spence, Kenlock, Knudsen, Carter-Vickers, Woolfenden, Smith, Skuse (c), Connolly, Hyam, Bru, Gleeson, Nydam, Celina, Carayol, Waghorn, Sears, Folami, Morris, Drinan.
Photo: TWTD Please report offensive, libellous or inappropriate posts by using the links provided.
You need to login in order to post your comments |
   Blogs 295 bloggersIpswich Town Polls[ Vote here ] |
By continuing to use the site, you agree to our use of cookies and to abide by our Terms and Conditions.We in turn value your personal details in accordance with our Privacy Policy.
