The Gaffer has confirmed that, apart from Tomas Kalas, all of the squad are fit and raring to go. Kind of weird the way the "computer" has organised this season's fixtures, what with Reading coming up again so soon and them having two home games and us two away over the holiday. Obviously they will be out for revenge after the drubbing they got at the Cottage three or so weeks ago and we're going for our first double. Jokanovic said in his press conference that they hadn't changed their style since that defeat but you can bet your 5p that Stam will having something up his sleeve. We on the other hand need to be aggresive and hit them with an early offensive; getting the 2500 plus Fulham support on song and giving them jittery memories. For that reason we can discount Jokanovic starting with 3 at the back (as per most of the second half against Ipswich). Which two will play CB? Probably he'll opt for Sigurdsson and Ream. Otherwise the only change is likely to be Fredericks coming in for Odoi (who by all accounts did really well at Portman Road on Monday). So - ...........................Button..................... ..Fredericks...Sigurdsson..Ream...Malone.. ........................McDonald.... ..................Johansen....... ....Aluko............Cairney......Ayite.... ........................Martin.....
I make your line up about right C58, though he might stick with Odoi. One thing I worry about is the state of Reading's pitch against Norwich looked very worn and because of the late KO and cold temperature could freeze up and go very rutty, not good for playing the ball on the ground, so I hope we put Smith on the Bench to be able to go long.
Well as you know SuperBri, for some reason he didn't turn up for the Brighton game but .... you've got it .... James Linington is scheduled for tomorrow night's game. Since that Norwich game when he booked four of ours (Aluko, Malone, Parker and Johansen) before getting round to noticing their cynical fouls, he's had 6 games and handed out 32 yellows. Here's hoping the Isle of Wight ferry has trouble making the crossing.
It's still foggy at the Madejski, but the Mr Linington has taken a look and he has no current issues with the visibility at pitch level. Game on! From the official Reading FC site
No Martin in the 18 man squad. Piazon comes in. Also Madl and Ream at the back again. ...........................Button..................... ..Fredericks...Madl....Ream...Malone.. ........................McDonald.... ..................Johansen....... ....Aluko............Cairney......Piazon.... ........................Ayite..... Couple of surprises on the bench with LVC back and Smith getting the nod over Humphrys. Bettinelli, Odoi, Sessegnon, Sigurdsson, Parker, LVC and Smith
Linesmen can't see across the pitch so game abandoned at half time. Ironically the fog then lifted. Ah well, sounded a scrappy game with ref Linington being fairly lenient in favour with the opposition. At least we get little bit of extra rest before the Brighton match which can't be bad given their's was cancelled before kick off. Tough on the travelling fans though.
Well just back and feeling a bit miffed. I will admit that it was difficult to see the far left hand corner where Fulham seemed to favour but when I got back to my seat for the second half it had cleared a lot and and looked good to play. It was a real shame as there was a good Fulham following today and I had the feeling we would be coming away with the points. Ref did book Frederics for picking up the ball after he was obviously fouled so perhaps the fog was affecting the ref's sight. ( I wonder if the yellow is now rescinded ?) Had Radio Berkshire on for the journey home and fans were calling in that our bench were hollowing to the 4th official that the game should be stopped. The official line though was that the linesman could not see across the field properly and could therefore not do his job properly. I wonder also if I have to pay again for the replay ?