The Championship's curtain is about to be raised and one of the opening day fixtures sees Preston travel t0 Reading.

The Royals are eagerly anticipating the start of the season after a busy summer window and a new manager coming in the form of ex-Manchester United player Jaap Stam, who is looking to transform last season's league form into something a little more positive.

Preston fans will also be a tad optimistic heading into the new year, hoping to better an impressive return to Championship football after last year's decent finish.

Simon Grayson's side are renowned for being an extremely solid outfit and will look to continue that into the new season, but perhaps add a greater winning element to their side in order to move up the table.

It'll be interesting to see what both sides look like on the opening day, and here are three things to look out for:...

 

How Reading start

Reading have a new manager in Jaap Stam.

This is Stam's first real job in management, so it'll be interesting to see how they set up and how effective it is against Championship opposition.

Stam has told fans he favours the dutch 4-3-3 or 'W W' formation which includes a high press system and a patient attacking build up. Whether this will work against a Championship side remains to be seen.

A good start will give confidence to both the fans and the players that his way of play will be effective, and will help them turn their fortunes around in league football.

How Preston start

What will be interesting to see is whether Preston show any change from the style of football they used last season, which was very, very defensive.

They failed to score many goals but had a pretty good defensive record.

So with Championship safety secured, perhaps Grayson will change the style of play to leave them a little more open at the back as they aren't massively worried about relegation any more.

If this were to happen, it would be very interesting to see how they cope with a change and whether it'll see them push up the table any higher, or make them sink lower.

Reading's new boys

Reading have made lot's of signings this summer including some pretty unknown players who have never set foot in England before, so one thing to look out for will be whether they cope or not in their first game.

Lot's of things ride on a players success at a new football club, and with plenty of new boys added into the equation, will Reading improve or will they set them back?

With their second squad overhaul in two years, fans will be hoping that they've got it right this time and that they can push onto former glories.