Reading slumped to a third defeat in four matches in the Championship during the week when they were handed a heavy 3-0 loss at home to Championship strugglers, Wigan Athletic, and The Royals dropped down to 16th place as a result.
After having put together an impressive 7-match sequence without defeat in the second tier from mid-December through to mid-January, the general consensus was that Reading were safe from the relegation battle and the Berkshire outfit could rest easy with manager, Mark Bowen, having steered them to safety.
However, after recording a 4-match winning streak which included wins against Derby County, QPR, Preston North End and Fulham, Reading have once again imploded as the hosts have registered just 1 further win from their subsequent 10 matches overall in the Championship.
Reading’s one success during this period was a 3-0 win away from home at Sheffield Wednesday but 3 defeats from their last 4 matches with losses to West Brom, Leeds United and Wigan Athletic means Saturday’s hosts are still looking nervously over one shoulder.
🗣️ Michael Morrison discusses last night's disappointing result at Madejski Stadium.#REAvWIG pic.twitter.com/CNKLVpuEfj— Reading FC (@ReadingFC) February 27, 2020
🗣️ Michael Morrison discusses last night's disappointing result at Madejski Stadium.#REAvWIG pic.twitter.com/CNKLVpuEfj
Second from bottom outfit, Barnsley, have emerged as one of the form teams in the Championship in recent weeks thanks to racking up 3 wins on the trot with victories achieved against Fulham, Middlesbrough and Hull City respectively.
Despite these much-needed wins, Barnsley still remain in the bottom three of the second tier but the visitors are just 3 points behind fourth from bottom club, Middlesbrough, so they’ll be confident that they can perhaps get a result at the Madejski Stadium on Saturday and extend their winning streak.
3 defeats on the trot on their travels have been almost offset by back-to-back wins on the road as The Tykes refuse to lay down and accept relegation, but this is expected to be a very tight and cagey affair in Berkshire this Saturday as both teams will be desperate to avoid defeat.
Being a bottom half encounter and a precious three points at stake, goals could become a scarcity at the Madejski Stadium between these two sides, and previous exchanges in the past have also resulted in few goals with 3 of the last 4 meetings resulting in under 2.5 goals.
All three of these low-scoring results also ended in draws; 1-1, 1-1 and 0-0 so perhaps the points will be shared as well as being a low-scoring affair.