Football League World's Sam Rourke will be live at the Madejski Stadium this afternoon as Reading take on Middlesbrough in the Sky Bet Championship.
The Royals will be looking to cement their place in the play-off spots with a win against Boro, who themselves are vying for a spot in the top six.
Neil Warnock's Boro side currently sit six points away from Bournemouth in sixth so know a win here could aid their chances of securing a coveted top six berth.
Veljko Paunovic's side, who sit in fifth, do still have a chance of getting into the automatic promotion spots with them six points off of Brentford in second position.
Both of these sides met back in October 2020 and played out a 0-0 draw at the Riverside.
Team and injury news
The Royals have to make do without John Swift for a considerable period of time so the influential attacking midfielder will be absent for today's clash v Boro.
Yakou Meite remains out for Paunovic's side and won't be available, whilst Josh Laurent could come back in for this one after missing Reading's last clash against Bristol City on Tuesday evening.
Liam Moore is now back fit and featured for the club's under-23 side yesterday, so it's unlikely he'll be starting here so may have to make do with a spot on the bench.
Tom McIntyre and Michael Morrison are expected to be the starting duo at the heart of Reading's defence today.
As for Middlesbrough, Marcus Browne is unavailable for today's clash against the Royals.
Meanwhile, Paddy McNair would have missed the trip to Berkshire through suspension but Boro won their appeal against the straight red card he was shown on Tuesday evening.
Boro are likely to be able to welcome back Dael Fry into the side for this afternoon's clash.
Marcus Tavernier is edging closer to contention but the game at the Madejski may come too soon.
“Tav is probably another week away,” said Warnock.
“He trained along with Dael, it’s just with Tav there’s a little issue with his knee when he side-kicks the ball. He’s just feeling little bits still.
Reading possible starting lineup:
Rafael; Yiadom, Morrison, McIntyre, Richards; Laurent, Semedo; Olise, Rinomhota, Ejaria; Joao
Middlesbrough possible starting lineup:
Bettinelli; Dijksteel, Fry, McNair; Fisher, Morsy, Howson, Bola; Kebano; Watmore, Fletcher
Stats
Middlesbrough have won their last three away matches against Reading in all competitions.
The Royals have won 14 points from a possible 24 in the Championship so far this season.
Boro have only managed to keep one clean sheet in their last 11 Championship games.
The Royals have failed to win any of their last eight meetings against today’s opponents.
Where to watch the game
The game will be streamed on each club's respective iFollow platform with kick-off scheduled for 3pm.