Carling Cup Second Round: Reading v Barnsley

Team News

Bobby Hassell is a major doubt for tonight's first meeting of two in four days with Reading after feeling something "pop in his Achilles" on Saturday. Hassell was forced off after just 22 minutes of the 1-0 defeat at Leicester and according to manager Simon Davey could be out for some time.

Rob Kozluk is expected to replace him and fellow defender Darren Moore will once again play through the pain barrier. New recruit Andy Gray is cup tied after appearing and missing a penalty in former club Charlton's 1-0 defeat to Hereford in the First Round. He could be replaced by Daniel Bogdanovic who is available again after missing the weekend action due to his mother being ill in Malta. Emil Halfredsson is also free for selection.

Likely Line-Up:

Luke Steele

Rob Kozluk

Stephen Foster

Darren Moore

Mounir El Haimour

Adam Hammill/Martin Devaney

Anderson De Silva

Emil Halfredsson

Jamal Campbell-Ryce

Daniel Bogdanovic

Iain Hume

Head to Head

The Reds should head to Berkshire with confidence having lost just one of their last five visits to Reading. That includes a League Cup success back in 1998. That game finished one a piece with Barnsley's 3-0 home success in the first leg enough to see them through 4-1 on aggregate.

Last season was the first time the two sides had met since that League Cup double header. The Royals triumphed 1-0 at Oakwell in December. An error by Dennis Souza allowing Brynjar Gunnarsson to notch the winner in a game of very few chances.

Then in April, in The Reds first league encounter at the Madejski Stadium they came away with a credible 0-0 draw that proved vital in the fight against relegation, and fatal to Reading's automatic promotion chances.

Barnsley 0-1 Reading Report 6/12/08

Last Six Reading v Barnsley Results:

18/4/09 Reading 0-0 Barnsley (Championship)

6/12/08 Barnsley 0-1 Reading (Championship)

23/9/98 Reading 1-1 Barnsley (League Cup)

15/9/98 Barnsley 3-0 Reading (League Cup)

31/3/97 Reading 1-2 Barnsley (Division One)

28/8/96 Barnsley 3-0 Reading (Division One)

Overall Record:

Reading Wins: 22

Barnsley Wins: 23

Draws: 16

Reading Goals: 94

Barnsley Goals: 93

At Reading

Reading Wins: 15

Barnsley: Wins: 4

Draws: 11

Reading Goals: 54

Barnsley Goals: 27

This Season

Reading suffered second season syndrome in the Premier League and look like they have suffered another dose in the Championship. A fine debut Premier League season in 2006-2007 saw the Royals finish 8^th- just one point off a UEFA Cup spot. But a disastrous ending to 2007-2008 when they lost five of their final nine games saw them drop from 13^th to relegated!

It was a woeful second half of the 2008-2009 season that ultimately ended their hopes of an instant return. A 2-0 win over Watford on the 9^th January left them in second place, but they would win just five of their final 19 games and finished in the play-offs. This poor form continued into the end of season lottery and they were beaten by eventually promoted Burnley in the semi-finals. This defeat saw manager Steve Coppell resign after six years in charge.

Coppell was replaced by Brendan Rogers who had done a commendable job at Watford in his first managerial role but he has struggled to shrug off last season's ill effects. They have picked up just two points from their first four games of the season and were goal-less until the weekend when Matt Mills netted in a 3-1 home defeat to Sheffield United.

If media reports are to be believed Reds owner Patrick Cryne is losing patience with manager Simon Davey after another poor start. Saturday's 1-0 defeat at Leicester City was the third in the first four matches and leaves The Reds rooted to the foot of the table.

Mad Sites:

www.reading-mad.co.uk

www.barnsley-mad.co.uk

Official Site:

www.readingfc.co.uk

www.barnsleyfc.co.uk.

Other Fixtures:

Carling Cup

Gillingham v Blackburn, R2, 19:45

Hartlepool v Burnley, R2, 19:45

Hull v Southend, R2, 19:45

Leeds United v Watford, R2, 19:45