Match Preview: Reading (A)

13 August 2021

Preston North End head to Berkshire on Saturday afternoon to face Reading in the second game of the Championship season.

Frankie McAvoy's side will be looking to build on the midweek victory over Mansfield Town in the first round of the Carabao Cup, following a defeat to Hull City in last week's league opener.

Match Information
Venue: Select Car Leasing Stadium
Date: Saturday 14^th August, 3pm kick-off
Competition: EFL Sky Bet Championship (Matchday 2/46)
Kit: Third kit – available to pre-order here!

Supporter Information

Tickets are still on sale for this fixture, with PNE having been allocated 1,500 seats in the away end which is split into standard seating and a family area, but there will be no sales on the day at Reading. Find full details here.

Also in the above link are details regarding coach travel offered by the club from Deepdale and Leyland for £25.

For international supporters, live streaming will be available on iFollow PNE as part of a season pass, or by use of a £10 match pass. Domestic fans are unable to watch online, but audio commentary is available for £2.50.

PNE Team News

Frankie McAvoy welcomed both Sean Maguire and Scott Sinclair back from their isolation periods on Tuesday evening in the Carabao Cup, and they will again be available this weekend.

Still missing for the Lilywhites, though, will be Matthew Olosunde, who continues to nurse himself back from an injury picked up in pre-season.

The Opposition

Reading have so far suffered two defeats in their 2021/22 campaign, narrowly losing 3-2 to Stoke City in a thrilling Championship encounter before a young-looking Royals were beaten 3-0 by Swansea in the first round of the Carabao Cup in midweek.

One of their best performers last season, former Liverpool man Ovie Ejaria, has missed both matches so far this term, but could be in line to make his return on Saturday afternoon.

Veljko Paunovic’s side made their first signing of the summer window on Thursday afternoon, amid embargo restrictions, bringing Tom Dele-Bashiru in on loan from Watford, and he is available for selection this weekend.

Key Stats

After winning at the then-named Madejski Stadium last season, PNE will be looking for back-to-back victories away to Reading for the first time in club history.

Reading’s dangerman last season was striker Lucas Joao, who netted 19 goals in the league, and he’s faced North End more than any other team in his career to date, playing the Lilywhites on 11 different occasions, scoring twice.

These two have an even head-to-head record, with both sides having won 25 times since their very first meeting in the FA Cup in 1894. That game wasn’t so even, though, with North End coming out 18-0 winners!

Our Last Meeting

It was a goalless draw back in January 2021 when Reading came to Deepdale on a Sunday afternoon in front of the Sky Sports cameras.

The Royals, who were in the hunt for automatic promotion at the time, had the best chance of the game in the 83^rd minute from the penalty, but Joao missed the target from 12 yards.

Man In The Middle

Joshua Smith will take charge of just his second Preston North End game this weekend, with the only other being last season's away victory over Huddersfield Town.

The referee showed defender Naby Sarr a red card for the Terriers after Alan Browne had turned the game on its head early in the second half.

So far this season, Smith has been in charge of the League Two fixture between Mansfield Town and Bristol Rovers, before overseeing Cardiff's Carabao Cup victory midweek over Sutton United.

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Match Reports

Match Report: Reading 2 PNE 1

14 August 2021

Goals either side of Daniel Johnson’s penalty saw Preston North End beaten 2-1 away to Reading.

Femi Azeez opened the scoring for the hosts 28 minutes into the game, and DJ, making his first league start of the season, equalised from the penalty spot in the second half.

A 69th-minute goal from John Swift, though, sealed the three points for the hosts at the Select Car Leasing Stadium.

Frankie McAvoy made four changes from last weekend’s defeat to Hull City, with Daniel Iversen, Sepp van den Berg, Scott Sinclair and Daniel Johnson all coming in.

DJ was involved early on, firstly slipping in Sinclair who saw his effort blocked at close distance, before the ball made its way back to Johnson later in the move, but he sent a left-footed shot wide of goal.

Reading then came extremely close to the opener and would almost certainly have found it were it not for an outstanding piece of defending from Van den Berg to throw himself in front of Ethan Bristow’s shot.

The hosts would soon have the lead, though, as a cross from the left was palmed out by Iversen, and the ball fell kindly to Azeez who found the net at the far post.

After heading into the break a goal ahead, Reading almost doubled their lead just three minutes into the second 45, with John Swift playing Lucas Joao through into the area and he struck a fierce effort against Iversen’s left-hand post.

At the other end, North End were awarded a penalty, as Alan Browne’s volley goalwards was handled by Michael Morrison, who was shown a yellow card. Johnson took the responsibilities from 12 yards and calmly slotted home to draw PNE level.

Reading responded quickly, though, with Swift playing a one-two with Joao before seeing his effort hit the post, run across the line and into the back of the net off the other post.

PNE had a flurry of late chances, as captain Browne saw his header from six yards hit the side netting before a superb save by Rafael prevented substitute Brad Potts from levelling the scores. From the resulting corner, the goalkeeper’s punch came out to DJ who struck a powerful effort goalwards, but it was blocked by a Reading body.

North End then had a free-kick deep into stoppage time, what proved to be the last kick of the game, but Rafael was equal to Ben Whiteman’s effort, which was heading right for the top corner.

Reading line-up: Rafael; Morrison, Moore, McIntyre; Yiadom, Rinomhota, Laurent, Swift, Bristow; Joao (Puscas, 85).

Subs not used: Southwood, Holmes, Tetek, Dele-Bashiru, Leavy, Clarke.

PNE line-up: Iversen; Storey, Lindsay, Hughes; van den Berg, Browne, Johnson, Ledson (Whiteman, 70), Cunningham (Maguire, 81); Riis (Potts, 63), Sinclair.

Subs not used: Rudd, Bauer, Rafferty, Rodwell-Grant.

Referee: Mr J Smith

Ticket News

Reading Ticket Details

12 August 2021

Tickets for the away trip to Reading on Saturday 14th August will remain on sale from the Deepdale ticket office until 5pm on Friday both over the phone and in person.

They will also be available online at mypne.com until 4pm on Friday, but Reading have confirmed that there will be no sales on the day.

Supporters can collect already purchased tickets from Reading from the away ticket office which opens from 1.30pm on Saturday.

The club have received 1,500 tickets for this Championship fixture, with a family area available as well as standard seating.

Prices for this game are as follows:

Main allocation

Adults £20

Seniors (65 and over) £13

18 to 24-year-olds £10

13 to 17-year-olds £5

U13s £4

Family area (within the away allocation)

No adults permitted without children and no children permitted without adults.

Adults £18

Seniors (65 and over) £13

18 to 24-year-olds £10

13 to 17-year-olds £5

U13s £2

There are nine pairs of wheelchair and carer tickets available, priced as per their age category with the carer ticket complimentary.

There are also some tickets set aside for ambulant disabled supporters with walking difficulties or for those who struggle to stand for long periods of time. Supporters in this area must always remain seated. Supporters wanting these tickets must request these at the time of booking (over the phone or in person).

Coach travel is also available from both Deepdale and Leyland, priced at £25 for all with a 9am departure time.

Supporters can purchase their tickets at the Deepdale ticket office, over the phone on 0344 856 1966 or online at mypne.com.

Reading have asked supporters to have a read of their spectators’ code of conduct which fans must adhere to before and during the match.

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