ROYALS HOST ALBION IN FINAL HOME MATCH

READING FC are in action at home to West Brom in their final home game of the 2021/22 Championship season.

The Royals secured their Championship safety at the weekend with two games to spare despite their 3-0 loss at Hull City.

Derby County were the first to be condemned to the drop, followed by Barnsley on Friday night and then joined by Peterborough United on Saturday after they lost to Nottingham Forest.

Despite a turbulent season with points deductions, transfer embargoes and a change in manager during the campaign, the Royals can now look ahead and begin to plan for life in the Championship again next season.

They conclude their home campaign when they host West Brom this weekend, who will finish in midtbale having dropped out of the play-off picture.

The Baggies made a promising start to the campaign under manager Valerian Ismael having been relegated under Sam Allardyce from the Premier League the previous season.

Looking to bounce back to the top flight at the first time of asking, things started well for West Brom but quickly began to fade as Ismael’s unique style of play came under criticism as results began to dwindle.

The West Brom hierarchy opted for a change having recently appointed former Reading chief executive Ron Gourlay, who had a controversial spell at the Royals.

With West Brom in fifth at the time, Ismael was sacked and replaced by Steve Bruce.

However, the appointment has not gone to plan and has seen the Baggies fall out of the promotion picture all together where they are now in 13th with two games to go and unable to make the top six.

When the teams met at the Hawthorns back in December, with Veljko Paunovic in charge of the Royals, Reading were beaten 1-0 after Callum Robinson netted the only goal of the game.

It was a drab afternoon for the Royals who failed to register a shot on target in their defeat.

Reading are winless in their last five meeting with West Brom, last beating them in the FA Cup in 2016.

The Baggies took three points on their last visit to Berkshire, in February 2020.