Reading FC face Peterborough United on Wednesday evening (7:45PM Kick-Off) in what many are dubbing the Royals’ biggest game of the season.

Whether you subscribe to that belief or not, it is the ultimate relegation six-pointer with Reading set to drop into the bottom three with a defeat and climb five points clear of the Posh with a win.

After a week full of rumours that manager Veljko Paunovic would depart the club after their eight-straight defeat to Coventry City on Saturday, the Serbian is still in charge for his side’s trip to London Road. Would another defeat change that? It’s impossible to say but there’s no doubt it would be an extremely costly loss.

Team News

Yakou Meite returned to the Reading squad for Saturday’s loss to Coventry and in just over a quarter of an hour he displayed the pace, skill, and exuberance that has made him so popular around Berkshire.

Defender Tom McIntyre is also inching closer and closer to his own return and neither of the duo played in the U23s 3-1 defeat to Derby County implying they will be in the squad tonight.

Alen Halilovic and Scott Dann are both still out with hamstring injuries, although it is understood that the centre-back is likely to return very soon. Junior Hoilett will miss the clash with Peterborough due to suspension after his red card in the second half on Saturday while it will likely come too soon for new signing Brandon Barker.

Femi Azeez and Dejan Tetek are still expected to be some way away from returning while Felipe Araruna is out for the season.

Peterborough are one of few teams in the division who have suffered something close to the level of injuries that have plagued Reading this season and they could be without Mark Beevers, Jack Taylor, Dan Butler, and Harrison Burrows.

Form Guide

Neither of these teams have won a Championship game in 2022 with Peterborough’s last win coming in early December and Reading’s in late-November. Since then they have combined for 14 Championship games, losing 13 of them.

Of course, Reading have lost their last seven Championship outings making Peterborough’s form marginally better – emphasis on marginally.

Last time out, the Posh were beaten 1-0 by Preston North End thanks to an 80th minute strike from Cameron Archer.

Reading Last Five: LLLLL

Peterborough Last Five: LLLDL

Last Time Out: Reading 3-1 Peterborough, September 14th, 2021

When these two sides met in the autumn, Reading approached the game on the back of extremely poor form to start the season, winning just one of their first five.

That all changed at the SCL against the side that would become their relegation rivals. With the score level at 0-0 at half-time, John Swift and Tom Dele-Bashiru struck in a three minute period just after the hour mark.

Peterborough clawed one back through Nathan Thompson but Dele-Bashiru notched his second with two minutes of normal time remaining to seal the three points.

Paunovic’s side went on to win four of their next five games, marking the Peterborough victory as a clear turning point. Time for history to repeat itself?

Predicted Reading XI:

Karl Hein, Andy Yiadom, Michael Morrison, Tom Holmes, Baba Rahman, Josh Laurent, Andy Rinomhota, Tom Dele-Bashiru, John Swift, Tom Ince, Lucas Joao