Out of form Birmingham City travel to in-form Reading this afternoon in the Sky Bet Championship.

Reading come off the back of a convincing 2-1 win against Nottingham Forest on Tuesday night, their second win on the bounce.

They're undefeated at home this calendar year, and will see the Birmingham clash as an opportunity to name themselves as contenders ahead of next season.

Birmingham fans are growing restless with the club's poor form and the play-offs are looking more and more distant a prospect.

They're winless in four and have lost their last two, and haven't won on the road in 12 games, their last a 3-0 win at Derby County.

FootballLeagueWorld writer Charlie Firth identifies THREE things to look out for in this afternoon's game...

1) A goal glut from Reading

Reading are an extremely confident side at the moment, and played excellently on Tuesday night against Nottingham Forest. This has been surmised by Oliver Norwood, who believes the Royals are going to give someone 'a big hit' sooner rather than later.

This is because of the sheer number of chances the Royals are crafting, and there's a large feeling about the club that they're going to be taken at some point.

So look out, Birmingham, you could be in for a surprise if you're not careful.

2) Birmingham's desire to get into the play-offs

It's well thought the play-offs are now too far to catch for Birmingham, but of course it's still mathematically possible. Gary Rowett will be desperate to see some desire from his side to fight their way into the play-offs and give themselves a shot at the Premier League.

The players are distinctly underperforming at the moment and the fans will demand a good performance with the season beginning to come to a close, against a team in a position that they'll see as considerably worse than themselves, in a game they feel they probably should be winning.

Will this be the game to put them back in contention?

3) Will Rakels or McCleary come back in?

Deniss Rakels and Garath McCleary are back and fit against for this match and, with McDermott readying himself for the new season, he could throw them in as he experiments with his side.

McCleary played the majority of the game from the bench against Cardiff City and crowned an excellent performance with a fabulous goal, whilst Rakels has been impressing since joining from Poland in January.

Will either of them come back into the side?

Reading and Birmingham fans... What do you think the result be? Who will be the key players? Let us know in the comments below!