Following a heavy 5-2 thrashing against promotion-chasing Bolton Wanderers on Monday, Reading must look to bounce back with an ambitious performance this Saturday as Lincoln City arrive at the Select Car Leasing Stadium.
As it stands, the Royals sit in 18th place, six points clear of the relegation zone. But with chasing sides like Cambridge United, Port Vale and Cheltenham Town all having at least one game in hand on Ruben Sellés’ men, the final run-in is all to play for.
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This has been a torrid term for supporters of the Berkshire club, with 16 points being deducted in under two years and protests sparking mass pitch invasions already this season. While the upcoming fixture appears monumentally tough for the struggling side, Sellés believes his players are ready to compete.
In an interview with the club’s media team, the Reading boss offered his insight ahead of the weekend’s fixture:
“We gave the players the day off after Bolton, there have been a lot of games this season and we want to give them the best recovery. The last couple of training sessions have been good, as has the preparation, and we’re ready to go again.
I am looking for my team to express themselves and demonstrate the principles that we want. We have analysed what we need to do to win matches. The team are ready to compete.
Lincoln are a good team. They brought in players that they felt they needed to make themselves more competitive. We will be ready for the challenge, however, and we’re going out to win the game. No teams are unbeatable, teams like Lincoln have these moments where they are playing really well and they are strong in their beliefs, but we have seen patterns and we think we have a fair opportunity to get the result.”
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A sure sense of optimism envelops Selles’ interview, suggesting that his team are adopting his game plan well in training ahead of this tough test and that the Royals won’t back down against a clear favourite this weekend. The Spaniard also gave his thoughts on his side’s recent loss to Bolton:
“The stats are suggesting that physically we were there for the Bolton game, we were at the usual numbers we have when it comes to out physicality. What I detected when I watched the game back was a little bit of tiredness in terms of the decision-making.”
Finally, when asked about centre-back Tom Holmes’ availability ahead of Saturday, Selles simply replied:
“Tom Holmes has been training for the past three days, so if he is called upon he is available.”
Writer’s View
Reading fans have a lot of deserved sympathy from others in ‘the 92’, with the odds seemingly stacked against them before the season even began. A tough test against a red-hot Lincoln side could prove to be too much for the Royals to handle after the heavy loss to Bolton on Monday. If the Berkshire team execute their manager’s attacking-minded game plan well, however, they could certainly catch the Imps by surprise and cause an upset.
Ultimately, with five wins from their last five, tomorrow’s opposition could replicate Bolton’s decimation with an in-form Joe Taylor leading the line. A 3-1 victory to the away side seems quite realistic.
