The Royals held Coventry City to a 0-0 draw at the Ricoh Arena last Saturday - it was nothing more than a wasted opportunity for 3rd place Reading who could have closed the gap on Birmingham City whom faced top of the table Wolverhampton Wanderers in their Midlands Derby on Monday night.
However it was the home side who made the decent start with Leon Best, Clinton Morrison and Freddy Eastwood all coming close in the early exchanges; Scott Dann also saw his header saved by American keeper Marcus Hahnemann and Guillaume Beuzelin spurned two great opportunities. At the other end Jay Tabb (formerly with the Sky Blues) came close for the visitors.
Midfielder Noel Hunt (knee) has been suffering recently with his injury, but despite being a used substitute in last Saturdays draw he should feature at some point during the game on Good Friday.
However the Royals will be without Ivar Ingirmarsson (knee), Brynjar Gunnarsson (hamstring), Graeme Murty (calf) and Jimmy Kebe (back) are all injured, whilst Liam Rosenior (hand) is also injured but will also be sitting out the second of a two match suspension.
Chris Armstrong, whom served as a Sheffield United player is likely to feature against his former club. He was signed from Oldham Athletic for just £100,000 in July 2003 - making his debut in a 0-0 boring draw at home to Gillingham (in the heat wave) and went onto make 84 (+21) appearances for United and scoring six goals. The Newcastle born Defender was subject to a £500,000 transfer to Reading in August 2008.
Possible Royals Line-Up: Marcus Hahnemann, Julian Kelly, Andre Bikey, Michael Duberry, Chris Armstrong, Glenn Little, Kalifa Cisse, James Harper, Jay Tabb, Dave Kitson, Shane Long.
Sheffield United recorded a two-nil home win over Ipswich Town last Saturday at Bramall Lane (Greg Halford and Darius Henderson on the score sheet) before they contested the South Yorkshire derby with Barnsley at home last Tuesday.
Blades boss Kevin Blackwell will be without striker Billy Sharp (groin) who looks set to miss the remainder of the season through injury, Jamie Ward, Danny Webber or Arturo Lupoli could take his place.
Darius Henderson is very likely to be featuring against his former club on Good Friday; he came through the youth ranks at the Madejski Stadium, signing a professional contact in August 1999 and making a debut in March 2000 when they lost 3-0 at Burnley as an 80th minute substitution. However he had to wait until August 2001 to net his first goal when he scored twice against Luton Town in a 4-0 League Cup win.
During his time at the Royals he was loaned to Brighton & Hove Albion before sighing for Gillingham in January 2004, he also featured for Swindon Town (loan) and Watford before joining Sheffield United in a £2,000,000 transfer from the Hornets in July 2008. Whilst at Reading he made just 12 (+71) appearances and scored 15 goals.
Blades Possible Line-Up: Paddy Kenny, Kyle Naughton, Chris Morgan, Matthew Kilgallon, Gary Naysmith, David Cotterrill, John-Joe O'Toole, Stephen Quinn, Greg Halford, Darius Henderson, Jamie Ward.