Fleetwood Town travel to the Select Car Leasing Stadium on Tuesday night in Sky Bet League One action as they face Reading in what is Town’s first ever meeting with the Royals, in this preview we tell you everything you need to know ahead of the match.
Fixture: Reading FC v Fleetwood Town
Competition: Sky Bet League One
Date: Tuesday 24 October 2023
Kick-off: 20:00 (BST)
Venue: Select Car Leasing Stadium, Berkshire, RG2 0FL
Reading FC
Tuesday’s hosts sit just below Fleetwood in the table in 23rd position, and would be desperate to shake off their winless run with a positive result against Town. The Royals - who are winless in five league games - are coming off the back of a 4-0 defeat to Charlton at The Valley only a few days ago, however, they come into the first of four consecutive home games in all competitions where all their three wins of this campaign have come at the Select Car Leasing Stadium.
With Premier League experience in their manager Ruben Selles who was appointed as manager of the Berkshire side in early July, the Royals will be eager to climb the table and to revitalise the club in what has been a challenging period since their relegation from the Sky Bet Championship last Summer. Results haven’t been so kind to Reading so far in their new division, but with a 60% win percentage at home and ten points out of a possible 15 - they will welcome Lee Johnson’s side as a fair challenge.
In 2015, Reading faced Arsenal at Wembley Stadium in an FA Cup semi-final clash, but cruelly lost out on a FA Cup final due to an Alexis Sanchez brace, the second coming in the 106th minute. the then Championship side would have no idea during that season that eight years later They would host Fleetwood Town, who were just getting comfortable in the third division following the Cods promotion from Sky Bet League Two.
THOSE WHO HAVE PLAYED FOR BOTH
There hasn’t been a plethora of players who have played at Highbury and the Select Car Leasing Stadium but there has been a handful who have represented the blue and white stripes of the hosts and also the red and white of Fleetwood.
Lewis Gibson: The most recent on this list is Lewis Gibson, the then Everton loanee joined the Cods on a temporary basis in January 2020 as he joined up with Joey Barton’s side where Gibson was part of a solid defensive unit alongside Harry Souttar and Callum Connolly and was part of Town’s play-off finishing side who unfortunately lost out to Wycombe 6-3 on aggregate.
Zak Jules: A product of Reading’s academy, Jules never broke into the Royal’s first team as he may of liked with three loans to Hemel Hempstead, Braintree and Motherwell before a permanent move to Shrewsbury Town in 2017 – no first team appearances for the Salop side meant five more loans between the leagues meant moving back south to MK Dons, who then loaned Jules to the Cods in 2022 under Simon Grayson – Jules made 20 appearances for the Cod Army and now plays for fellow League One side Exeter City.
Tarique Fosu: Fosu, another former member of Reading’s academy, came to the Fylde Coast for his first loan move of his senior career from Reading as he made his debut for Fleetwood in 2015 away to Peterborough United – the tricky forward would then score his first senior goal in a 5-1 win over Swindon Town. With a solid CV behind his back including 50 appearances for Brentford, 57 for Charlton and 20 for Stoke City, Fosu has had a taste of senior international football as he was capped for Ghana four times.
THE GAFFER'S THOUGHT ON THE MATCH
“I do believe massively in the squad and the talent, but if you haven’t got those dark arts to earn the yards then it’s going to be tough, any lost points are a missed opportunity, there’s no doubts about that - it’s not a million miles away, there are short comings and we must try to address them, can we go and beat Reading? Absolutely that is possible so that’s our next focus.
“We’re honest with ourselves, we’ll be honest in terms of reviewing our previous performance, there was shoots of positivity, particularly in the way we have controlled games but there needs to be more action, there needs to be more forward play – we’re just looking for that final piece of quality in the final third.”
KEY TICKETING DETAILS FOR READING FC
Prices for Onward Card holders both online and at the ticket office at Highbury:
Adults: £22
Seniors: £16
Under-25s: £13
Under-18s: £8
Under-13s: £6
Prices for non-Onward Card holders both online and at the ticket office at Highbury:
Adults: £27
Seniors: £19
Under-25s: £16
Under-18s: £11
Under-13s: £9
Travel/Coach information:
Coaches will be departing Highbury at 1pm on the day of the game, costing only £10 for Onward Card holders and £25 for non-Onward Card holders to make the journey down south.
Please note tickets go off-sale at 12pm on Tuesday the day of the game, but those who buy at Reading FC will pay the non-Onward Card holder price on the day.
WATCH TOWN LIVE ON IFOLLOW!
If you’re wanting a mid-week football fix and want to watch Lee Johnson’s side play in a 24,161 seated stadium, a few thousand short of the population of the whole of Fleetwood itself then there is a few ways to be part of the action as Town tick off a new stadium to play in with coverage from iFollow and BBC Radio Lancashire.
All audio and video passes available for UK and overseas fans – click HERE to buy your pass!
