Royals manager Brendan Foster will be looking for a good result in their second league fixture at the Madejski Stadium; they drew there opening game 0-0 with Nottingham Forest before they were humiliated at St James Park last Saturday - Shola Ameobi netting three in a 3-0 victory for the Magpies.
They also disposed of Burton Albion (5-1) in the Brewers first ever League Cup fixture prior to their North East thrashing, but the Royals faced Swansea City last Tuesday night at the Liberty Stadium. The game finished 0-0 with Royals stopper Adam Federici saving a first half spot kick.
The Buscuitmen are likely to field striker Noel Hunt whom returns from a foot injury whilst defender Andre Bikey, who is in much speculation about leaving the club is available after serving a suspension.
Former Sheffield United Defender/Midfielder Chris Armstrong may be drafted into the squad against his old club; he made 84 (+21) appearances for the Blades and scored six goals. He was signed by Neil Warnock in August 2003 from then troubled club Oldham Athletic in a £100,000 transfer and sold to Reading five years
later.
Possible Royals Line-Up: Adam Federici, Ryan Bertrand, Liam Rosenior, Alex Pearce, Jimmy Kebe, Jay Tabb, Scott Davies, Kalifa Cisse, Jem Karacan, Simon Church, Shane Long.
Sheffield United have had a decent start to the season despite an early exit in the League Cup to Port Vale (1-2), they drew 0-0 at Middlesbrough on the opening day before demolishing Watford 2-0 in the first home game of the season; Jamie Ward and Ched Evans with the goals before the visit of Leicester City last Tuesday night.
The Foxes had virtually dominated the first half without really creating, though the Blades almost saw the ball in the back of the net when Darius Henderson saw his deflected show cannon off the up-right. But early in the second-half the visitors had a break through.
Matt Oakley hit a cruel free-kick when slammed off Matty Fryatt - the ball went one way and keeper Mark Bunn went the other to the delight of the travelling City fans, but shortly afterwards United were level when winger Keith Treacy gambled after turning his defender, and all of 35 yards out he sweetly struck the ball with power into the top right hand corner with keeper Chris Weale unable to stop it; finished 1-1.
During that epic 1-1 draw with City the Blades substituted midfielders Brian Howard with Stephen Quinn at half-time. It later emerged that Howard is suffering with expected tonsillitis and is as major doubt for the visit to the Madejski Stadium.
Blades boss Kevin Blackwell has no new fresh injury concerns - with the exception of former Barnsley midfielder Brian Howard - though he does see Lee Hendrie available for squad selection after serving a four match ban.
He could however opt to field former Royals; Darius Henderson whom is expected to start and winger Glen Little whom may make the substitutes bench.
Henderson started his professional playing career with Reading in August 1999, though he didn't make his debut until March 2000 in a 3-0 defeat at Burnley. He saw limited opportunities with the Royals and moved onto Brighton & Hove Albion on loan before completing a move to Gillingham in January 2004. In all he made just 17 (+71) appearances for the Berkshire club and scored 15 goals.
Little has enjoyed three spells at Reading, two on whom on loan, his main permanent stay occurred in July 2006 when he signed on a free transfer from Burnley - leaving to join Portsmouth in July 2008 after their relegation from the Premier League. Including his other two loan spells the Wimbledon born winger made 99 (+21) appearances and netted six goals.
Possible Blades Line-Up: Mark Bunn, Kyle Walker, Chris Morgan, Matthew Kilgallon, Andy Taylor, David Cotterill, Nick Montgomery, Stephen Quinn, Keith Treacy, Ched Evans, Darius Henderson.
Blades-Mad Prediction: Reading 1-1 Sheffield United
| Do you think you can Beat The Manager? Why not join our very own Prediction League and cast your predictions on the Blades forthcoming Championship fixtures. The league runs all season long and is a fantastic tool to show how you are as a Blade and as a football fan, so come along and play along!!! |
:: Statistics ::
For Head to Head statistics please click here.
Last 10 Games... Home & Away
| 2008/2009 | Fri 10 Apr | Reading | 0 - 1 | Sheff. Utd. | Championship |
| Sat 15 Nov | Sheff. Utd. | 0 - 2 | Reading | Championship | |
| 2006/2007 | Sat 20 Jan | Reading | 3 - 1 | Sheff. Utd. | Premiership |
| Sat 16 Sep | Sheff. Utd. | 1 - 2 | Reading | Premiership | |
| 2005/2006 | Tue 14 Feb | Sheff. Utd. | 1 - 1 | Reading | Championship |
| Tue 25 Oct | Reading | 2 - 0 | Sheff. Utd. | League Cup | |
| Sat 01 Oct | Reading | 2 - 1 | Sheff. Utd. | Championship | |
| 2004/2005 | Sat 02 Apr | Reading | 0 - 0 | Sheff. Utd. | Championship |
| Sat 14 Aug | Sheff. Utd. | 0 - 1 | Reading | Championship | |
| 2003/2004 | Sat 28 Feb | Reading | 2 - 1 | Sheff. Utd. | League Division One |
| Head to Head Statistics... | Goals | |||||
| Venue | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | For | Against |
| Home | 17 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 25 | 17 |
| Away | 17 | 5 | 1 | 11 | 15 | 21 |
Total | 34 | 12 | 6 | 16 | 40 | 38 |
:: Match Officials ::
Referee: M. Russell
Assistants: W. Bull & N. Hobbis
Fourth Official: L. Collins