Reading host Aston Villa in the Championship this evening.
Reading starting line-up: Mannone; Gunter, McShane, Moore, Blackett; Van den Berg, Kelly, Swift; Clement, Barrow, Popa.
Reading substitutes: Jaakkola, Beerens, Evans, Mendes, McCleary, Bacuna, Ilori.
Aston Villa starting line-up: Johnstone; De Laet, Terry, Chester, Taylor; Whelan, Hourihane, Onomah; Green, Bjarnason, Hogan.
Aston Villa substitutes: Steer, Samba, Lansbury, Agbonlahor, Bree, Hutton, Adomah.
Reading will be hoping for a home win this evening as they take on Aston Villa, having only managed to draw with Fulham on Saturday afternoon.
Fulham were down to ten men after a matter of seconds, with Tomas Kalas sent off inside the first minute, but Reading couldn’t press home their advantage as they were held to a 1-1 draw.
Tonight, Jaap Stam has gone with a strong back four of Chris Gunter, Paul McShane, Liam Moore and Tyler Blackett in front of Vito Mannone, with Joey van den Berg protecting the defence.
Liam Kelly and John Swift will be called upon for creativity behind a front three of Pelle Clement, Modou Barrow and Adrian Popa, and it’s unclear right now just who will be the central striker of those three.
New signing Leandro Bacuna – snapped up from Aston Villa – is only on the bench, alongside Anssi Jaakkola, Roy Beerens, George Evans, Joseph Mendes, Garath McCleary and former Villa loanee Tiago Ilori.
Meanwhile, Villa need a response having been hammered 3-0 away at Cardiff City on Saturday, with Steve Bruce handing a start to Ritchie de Laet at right back, coming in for Alan Hutton.
De Laet joins John Terry, James Chester and Neil Taylor in a defence protecting Sam Johnstone, with Glenn Whelan, Conor Hourihane and Josh Onomah in midfield, whilst Andre Green and Birkir Bjarnason will support lone striker Scott Hogan.
That means that Gabriel Agbonlahor is only on the bench, alongside Jed Steer, Chris Samba, Henri Lansbury, James Bree, Albert Adomah and the aforementioned Hutton.
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