Fulham Form: WLDLLWWLWL
Reading form: DWWDLLDWLL
Match odds: Home win: 17/10 Draw: 21/10 Away win: 17/10
Fulham came out 5-3 winners against fellow Championship side Wolves in the FA Cup in midweek.
Reading are undefeated since the 20th of December.
Reading won the reverse fixture 3-0 at the Madejski Stadium earlier on in the campaign.
Fulham
The home side have been boosted before Reading come to visit Craven Cottage. Ryan Tunnicliffe, Alex Kacaniklic and Hugo Rodallega could all return to the side after missing the epic FA Cup encounter against Wolves in the week. Fulham haven’t scored in their last 4 league games before managing to notch 3 in the week, and their last league victory came before Christmas in the 4-0 demolition of Sheffield Wednesday. Fulham fans will be hoping that the victory in the Cup may be an incentive to help the team return to form in the league following a poor run of form which has seen them fall down to 18th place, one underneath the Reading side that they host on the weekend.
The Royals appear to be finding a real run of consistency under new boss Steve Clarke and continued this with a hard fought 0-0 draw against high flying Middlesbrough last weekend at the Madejski. Reading come into the game on the weekend with further good news as well, the well documented injury list that has plagued the side for much of this campaign appears to be falling. Club skipper Jem Karacan made his first appearance in over 16 months following a knee injury after a late substitute appearance in last weekends stalemate. Garath McCleary is fighting to be involved against Fulham after a niggling injury has prevented the midfielder from making a consistent return to the side following his own long term injury problem. Pavel Pogrebnyak appears to be set to play against his former side after making a surprise start against Boro last weekend.
Match Preview
Reading’s largest away following since their Premiership tie against Arsenal towards the end of the 2012-13 season will be travelling to West London hoping to see their side continue the good start under Clarke. They will come up against a Fulham side keen to follow on their FA Cup exploits in the week with a return to form in the league. Both sides will fancy their chances this weekend with a draw being the result that a lot of supporters are predicting, however I think that Reading may just sneak this in a tight fixture.
