READING ON THE ROAD AGAINST STRUGGLING BLUEBIRDS
READING are on the road this weekend as they make the trip to Wales to face Cardiff City.
The Royals’ have had a confidence boost after a recent upturn in form which has seen them win three games on the bounce prior to Wednesday night’s game away at Derby County (match report and reaction online at Wokingham.Today).
Veljko Paunović’s side did have the worst defensive record in the league but finally kept a clean sheet at home to Middlesbrough last weekend despite having to field a makeshift back four with injuries to all five of their senior centre-backs.
Meanwhile, Saturday’s opponents have had a tough start to this season under manager Mick McCarthy.
The Bluebirds enjoyed a tremendous new manager bounce when McCarthy joined last season but they have been unable to carry that form into this campaign.
They have now lost their last four Championship matches with defeats to Coventry City, Bournemouth, Blackburn Rovers and West Brom.
Their poor form leaves them in 16th position, before Wednesday night’s fixtures.
Cardiff have conceded nine goals in their last two fixtures, suffering a 5-1 hammering at Blackburn last weekend before a 4-0 defeat at the Cardiff City Stadium to league leaders West Brom on Tuesday evening.
Cardiff have struggled for goals this season and have scored just 12 times in 10 matches.
The majority of their goals have come from defence as centreback Aden Flint has netted an impressive four times in eight matches.
Meanwhile, his centre-back partner, and former Royals player Sean Morrison has scored twice as the pair has been responsible for exactly half of Cardiff’s league goals this season.
Midfielder Marlon Pack has been their main provider with three assists and a goal to his name.
The Royals have an outstanding record against Cardiff and are unbeaten in their last 11 meetings, a run that stretches back to 2015.
On their last visit to Cardiff in September 2020, Reading took the points with a 2-1 win after goals from Michael Morrison and Lucas Joao.