 Tuesday, 21st Apr 2009 12:36 As we trip and stumble towards the staying up finish line, Reading trip and stumble over the play off finish line. Derby County V Reading FC Coca Cola Championship, Tuesday 21st April, 2009 7:45pm, Pride Park Stadium, Derby An alarming loss of form has left the Royals without a win in five games. This has effectively ended their challenge for the second automatic promotion place and left them clinging onto a play off place – with Swansea and Preston ready to pounce if they fail. A defeat at Pride Park would leave them only 3 points ahead of them with the same number of games played and with no room for slip ups. Before last Saturday’s Barnsley game, Reading coach Wall Downes called on his players to roll up their sleeves and put the effort in. "It's about time we looked into one another's eyes and whoever wants to die for the cause, those are the players we want now. If there's anyone with any doubts or who we're not sure about, let them bail out now. We have to show some guts to get the glory. We are where we are and now's the time to roll our sleeves up to take some good momentum into what would be a great way to go up." The game against struggling Barnsley finished 0-0. Manager Steve Coppell on his side not winning at home for the seventh successive game; "It's massively disappointing once again. It's the strangest run of results at home I have known at any club I've been at. It's been the strangest season in many ways." "Earlier on when we were winning games I was thinking 'how on earth were we winning those by threes, fours and fives? We were poor in the first half. It was almost as though there was nothing at stake for either team. It was shadow boxing. In the second we were what I expected us to be and we had opportunities. We just didn't have our shooting boots on." One of the problems could be the fitness of 18 goal striker Kevin Doyle who missed the game due to a knee injury. He could be fit to face the Rams tonight however; Noel Hunt has picked up an ankle knock. James Harper won’t feature however Brynjar Gunnarsson has recovered from a hamstring injury and may feature Royals Facts: No. Position Player Crystal Palace 0-0 Reading Clean sheet 0 Doyle 18 The Rams: A dire game against Palace on the heels of a good if losing performance against Wolves has left Nigel Clough’s men stumbling in sight of the finish line. Two draws or a win from our three remaining games should take us out of Norwich ’s reach but with our poor defensive record, not conceding a goal is looking to be a tall order. Rather than moan about our defensive frailty, Nigel Clough pointed to our failure in attack commenting; "We didn't take our chances, especially the one that fell to Rob Hulse in the 94th minute.” If Hulse is the first Derby striker this century to score 20 or more goals a season, he needs to get three in our remaining 3 games – and he’s looking tired. To get 17 goals this season says a lot about the player given the paucity of supply and the number of times he’s been left to plough a loan furrow up front but some of our other players need to stand up and be counted. Hulse is the only player in double figures and more goals than our midfield combined. This must change in the close season and it would help Hulse if they could pitch in during the remaining games. Mick’s team: Bywater, Stewart, Nyatanga, Albrechtsen, Connolly, Teale, Savage, Pearson, Varney, Commons, Hulse. What the bookies think: The Royal's are heavily fancied at 13/10 for this game while the Rams are at 2/1. The draw is at 12/5. You can get 7/4 on any of our strikers to Score while a Rob Hulse hat-trick would get you 40/1. Dave Kitson is favourite to score at 6/4. Information for travelling fans: Driving: its 130 miles to Pride Park Take the A4074 and A423 to the A34. Take the A34 to J9 of the M40 and head north to the Junction with the A43 Link road to the M1. Then take the M1 north to J25 for the A52 Brian Clough way to Derby. Pride Park is on your left as you head into the city. Parking: It used to be at the old Wilmorton College site however that is now a housing estate so away fans should park at Catalyst on London Rd opposite the Navigation pub. It’s about 10-15 minutes walk from the ground. Don’t be tempted to park at the shopping centre on Pride Park unless you fancy being clamped. You can also park for a £5 at the hospital further up London Rd near the hospital and the Railway station. Another alternative is to park at Pentagon Island . Take the exit for the cattle market and turn left and after a few hundred yards you will come to The Cattle Market Car Park. It’s about 10 minutes walk to the ground from here. Drinking: There are a few pubs very close to the ground but if you come by train, the locale around the station is fairly inviting. The Crown and Cushion at the junction of London Rd always seems to be full of away supporters. The Brunswick is a must for any real ale fans and the Alexandra next door is my personal favourite. Fans tend to mingle in these pubs and as long as you’re not being aggressive, the atmosphere is good. The Waterfall opposite the station is okay as well. If you are driving, the Navigation Pub on London Rd opposite the parking area is your best bet. Around the ground there's a Frankie & Bennie's, Harvester and the Pride Park but these tend to be very busy. Mick’s Prediction: We seem to struggle against Reading. We lost badly on the final day of last season and Reading had revenge for our relegation taunting with a 3-0 win at the Madejski. In fact all the way back to our “only come to see the Champions” taunts years ago we’ve struggled against them. I’m expecting a dire game with both teams too tense to play football. Hopefully we can snatch a result for once. Photo: Action Images Please report offensive, libellous or inappropriate posts by using the links provided.
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