Reading will welcome Barnsley to the Select Car Leasing Stadium on Saturday needing to better Leyton Orient’s result to break into the top six of the League One table on the final day.
The hosts currently sit seventh and only trail the sixth-placed side on goal difference on the back of consecutive league victories.
Match preview
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Reading head into the final day of the League One regular season on Saturday aiming to break into the playoff places with a victory.
The Royals have enjoyed an impressive campaign across spells under the management of Ruben Selles and Noel Hunt, amassing 75 points from their 45 games in spite of off-field issues to sit seventh, having won 21 and lost 12 of those games.
Following a pair of victories and a draw in early April, Hunt’s side dropped out of the top six as a result of a 1-0 home defeat to Lincoln City on Good Friday, but they have bounced back to keep the pressure on sixth-placed Leyton Orient since, firstly returning to winning ways by thrashing Mansfield Town 5-1 away from home on Easter Monday.
A trip to relegation-threatened Bristol Rovers then followed on Saturday, and the Royals made it back-to-back wins, as Lewis Wing broke the deadlock in the 67th minute and Chem Campbell wrapped up a 2-0 triumph in injury time.
Now sitting level on points with Leyton Orient and only outside the top six due to a likely irreversible inferior goal difference, Reading head into the weekend knowing they must better the sixth-placed side’s result in order to earn a playoff place.
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Their visitors, meanwhile, make the trip to Berkshire aiming to end a disappointing season on a high note, having fallen out of playoff contention in the second half of the campaign.
Despite a pleasing start to their third consecutive League One campaign, Barnsley have fallen short of a top-six finish for the first time in the three-year spell this time around with 58 points on the board from 45 outings.
Four straight wins around the turn of the year saw the Reds sit on 42 points from 25 outings, but they have since managed just four more wins and 16 more points from the last 20 attempts, with just one of those victories coming in their last 11 games.
Under the management of Conor Hourihane since mid-March, initially on an interim basis before his permanent appointment, the Yorkshire outfit last tasted victory in mid-April and went on to suffer a defeat and play out a draw over the Easter Weekend, before most recently hosting already-relegated Shrewsbury Town last weekend.
Barnsley would again come away empty-handed from that contest, having failed to tie the game at two goals apiece after Jon Russell pulled it back to 2-1 12 minutes from time, and now sitting 12th, two points above 13th, 14th and 15th spots, they will at least hope to bow out with a win to guarantee a top-half finish on Saturday.
Team News
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Reading could be unchanged from last week’s 2-0 away win over Bristol Rovers, with Michael Craig, Kelvin Abrefa, Ben Elliott and Jeriel Dorsett set to remain sidelined by injuries.
Jayden Wareham should again lead the line in a 4-3-3 setup alongside Kelvin Ehibhatiomhan and Chem Campbell, who netted his fifth goal of the season last time out.
They will have plenty of support from midfield, with Lewis Wing having scored in consecutive games to move onto eight goals for the season and Harvey Knibbs leading the squad with 14 league goals this term, while Charlie Savage also remains a key man in the engine room.
Barnsley are hit by several injuries of their own, with Neil Farrugia, Georgie Gent, Fabio Jalo, Jackson Smith, Stephen Humphrys and Corey O’Keefe all set to miss the final day.
Davis Keillor-Dunn will continue to lead the attack, having netted a team-high tally of 16 League One goals in his debut season with the Reds, while 19-year-old Jonathan Bland could again join Adam Phillips and Barry Cotter in support.
Jon Russell and Luca Connell should continue their midfield partnership, while Mael de Gevigney will continue alongside Marc Roberts at the heart of a back four.
Reading possible starting lineup:
Pereira; Rushesha, Bindon, Mbengue, Garcia; Savage, Wing, Knibbs; Campbell, Wareham, Ehibhatiomhan
Barnsley possible starting lineup:
Gauci; Lembikisa, De Gevigney, Roberts, Earl; Connell, Russell; Bland, Phillips, Cotter; Keillor-Dunn
We say: Reading 2-0 Barnsley
Having rebuilt confidence in a strong campaign with consecutive wins again, and needing another victory to break into the top six, we back Reading to get past a Barnsley side lacking any momentum at the end of a disappointing season and start to 2025.
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