Lee Johnson believes City will be ‘sharp’ as they resume Sky Bet Championship action against Reading at the Madejski Stadium tomorrow evening (January 28th, KO 8pm). The Robins are back in action after a 10-day break and are aiming to back up respective wins against Wigan Athletic and Barnsley with three points in Berkshire. [ 1 WOULD BE NICE] Head Coach Johnson said: “We’ve had a great 10 days training. We always do better on the back of a week’s session. We can do a lot of individual work and I’ve really enjoyed coaching this week on a one-on-one basis and I think the boys will be sharp going into this game.” City sit in ninth place, two points off the play-off spots, and Johnson added: “I think that momentum comes from wins and clean sheets so to have two clean sheets and two wins in the league under our belts is really positive. We have always got goals in us as a squad, we have got talent and various ways to score, and we have got to continue that, but to have clean sheets is important.”
Match facts Reading won seven consecutive league matches against Bristol City between 2010 and 2017, but have since won just one of five meetings (D1 L3). Bristol City have lost six of their last seven away league games against Reading, winning the other 1-0 in September 2017 thanks to a late Aden Flint goal. Reading have 14 points more than they did at the same stage last season (P28 W10 D7 L11 in 2019-20, P28 W5 D8 L15 in 2018-19). Bristol City are looking to win three successive league games for the first time since August. Each of the last eight league goals Reading have conceded have been scored in the second half, with an average time of 74 minutes. Fifteen of Bristol City's 22 away league goals this season have been scored after half-time (68%). Reading will be without defender Matt Miazga, who had a scan on a suspected ankle ligament injury on Monday. Sone Aluko could play his first league game of the season after appearing in their FA Cup draw with Cardiff. Bristol City remain without centre-back Tomas Kalas, who is expected to return from injury in around a week. However, Lee Johnson may be able to call upon Hungary midfielder Adam Nagy, who missed the win over Barnsley last time out with an ankle problem.
No chanting from you visiting supporters up there tonight please. They're easily offended and have a very imaginative PA announcer.
They always call us Sheepshagers and sing “You’re Welsh and you know you are” (never disputed that) so hopefully we can report them as pay back.
some good results there!.. not only for us …. but helping us!!!!! roll on Saturday with 2 new players in the squad
Match report: Super City nick it again Bristol City saw off a late spell of pressure to grab a deserved win at the Madejski Stadium on Tuesday night. Another win by a single score was enough to take the points. Jamie Paterson finished low after an hour to send the points down the M4 to the West Country. And the Robins were well worth their third successive win in a row, the first such run for Streaky Lee Johnson since August. A timely run up the table sees the top six places remain a distinct possibility. Johnson opted to make no changes to his squad from the side that triumphed late against Barnsley in the last match, rewarding the recent winning form of his side. While the home side also remained unchanged from their last league contest but had a couple of familiar faces in their team including captain Liam Moore and Sam Baldock on the bench. The Robins hoped to do a league double over Reading for the first time since 2017/18 - as Lloyd Kelly scored at Ashton Gate and Aden Flint won the away match - and that’s just what they did despite the Royals spending heavily in the summer. Eliasson sprung forward on the counter after an hour, who else, and crossed low for the supporting Paterson to sweep low and into the net for his third league goal of the season and his second since his return from a loan to Derby County. It was no more than Johnson’s team deserved and the only score of the game. Late pressure was seen off - including two goal-line clearances in the 88th minute and reading hitting the post - and up the league we go.
Despite being a very inconsistent player I personally have always been a huge fan of Paterson, think he’s a class player, good to see him put in some good performances despite being shipped out to Derby for a while. Up the City
I was there. First ‘quarter’ we were great - pressing and moving - putting Reading under pressure. Second quarter’ we were static; no movement off the ball, leaving no option but to go backwards as all forward options were marked - Bentley was forced to make a brilliant save. WHY didn’t Brownhill go for goal with our free kick - last kick of the half???? Second half was much better - pressing and moving again. Pato got his goal - but then it looked like we sat back to defend the lead. Reading had some good efforts - hitting the post with a clearance off the line near the end - and the 4 minutes of extra time seemed more like 10, but we brought it upon ourselves by inviting them on imho. I’m hoarse now - but happy. 3 points and back in the playoffs. the Reading home crowd attendance was unbelievably poor.......
From the match report on the BBC website "Victory for City not only moved them up to sixth, but also saw them cut the gap to second-placed West Bromwich Albion to six points - having just one month ago been 16 points off the Baggies." Such an inconsistent league.