Confident we can perform!

TOWN head coach David Wagner believes the FA Cup clash with Manchester City was the perfect preparation for tonight’s crucial league encounter against Reading.

Both the Premier League giants and the Royals heavily rely on a possession-based brand of football.

Wagner said: “I am very confident we can perform.

“The Manchester City game was a great test for us as they like to have a lot of ball possession and I think Reading are comparable with them.

“Therefore everything we did well against Manchester City we have to repeat against Reading.”

The German head coach’s side will be further boosted by the return of key trio Aaron Mooy, Christopher Schindler and Michael Hefele who all sat out the City tie.

However, Harry Bunn is still likely to miss out but should be fit enough to be in contention for the weekend game away to rivals Barnsley.

Wagner also hopes midfield enforcer Jonathan Hogg should return to training either ahead of the Manchester City replay or the Newcastle United Championship clash on March 4.

That leaves only long-term absentee Sean Scannell currently unavailable for Town’s promotion charge, but the winger is ‘making good progress’ and should be available after the international break.

And Wagner was also quick to play down any thoughts tomorrow night’s encounter would be a revenge mission for his side after the 1-0 defeat at the Madejski Stadium back in September.

Wagner added: “We were disappointed after the game because of the level of performance and the refereeing decisions were maybe hard to take, but it’s a new game.

“We’d like to show we have progressed since then and correct that result, but we have to just focus on ourselves. It’s at home in front of our fans and that’s an advantage we want to use.”

If Town reach the play-off final and FA Cup final, the play-off final will move from Monday, May 29, to Saturday, June 3.