Off to the Royal county of Berkshire to play the Royals in the last away match of the season, never been to the Mad Stad and due to cricketing committments will have to wait until next season,which is a disappointment. 41 consecutive games for me comes to an end luckily back for the last home match next week. Reading have had a disappointing season, sacking Clarke just before they played the reverse fixture at Deepdale and apparently they are less than happy with the bald one on his return(McDermott) one win in the last six although last time out picked up a point at QPR. Having seen them at Deepdale have to say they were probably the poorest side we have played this season. Earlier in the season they were doing reasonable well, but soldNick Blackman to Derby and results have been indifferent since then. Always rated Vydra who is on loan from Watford, apparently the Latvian Rakels is quite useful and they also have Hector and John on loan from Chelsea who are both highly rated but have as much chance of getting in Chelsea's side as I have. Given that we have nothing to play for think that Gallagher should now have his hernia operation, Grayson could experiment although may have to do it without Pearson who was nailed by Barton on Friday. Would be nice to end the road trips with a win but it depends who wants it more on the day.
Reading manager Brian McDermott: "If you get back to 1-1, you don't expect to lose that late in the game. "Walking round that pitch (on a lap of honour) is never good when you've just lost a game that late and also where we've ended up in the league. "But I've been in this situation before in 2004-05, when we walked around the pitch at Wigan. The following season, we won the league. So that's what I hang on to." Preston manager Simon Grayson: "The lads showed today that they're not on their holidays. We're making sure we finish the season in a positive manner and get as many points as possible. "A lot of teams would maybe have settled for a 1-1 draw here, but we keep challenging the players and they've shown again that they've got a fantastic spirit for each other and the club."
