The start of the new campaign is always an exciting time as the supporters, manager, and players alike all have sense of hope that this year is the year that they acheive promotion.
After finishing in 10th last season, the Birmingham faithful are hoping that they will be able to challenge for a promotion play-off spot. On the other side of the pitch, Reading had an absolutely abysmal season finishing in the 19th spot. It is a very good thing there are 24 teams in the Championship, otherwise they would have been relegated.
Steve Bruce has a lot of work cut out for him this season as there are plenty of qualty sides all vying for a shot at the Premier League. However, should they get off to a hot start the Royals could build confidence on their early performances and carry that on to the rest of the campaign.
Key players
Maikel Kieftenbeld joined Birmingham City from Eredivise side, Gronigen this past summer and will play primarily as a holding midfielder. He played for five seasons at his previous club making more than 25 starts every time, playing against a few of the toughest teams on the continent to boot. This experience he will bring to the Blues will be vital to their success this season as a calming presence in front of the back four, clearing any danger that may come that way.
31-year-old Pavel Pogbrenyak will be hoping to the line once more for the Royals after a disappointing campaign last season where he scored just six goals in 26 matches played. He will be hopeful that new boy, Orlando Sá, and him will be able to build chemistry with each other in order to bang goals throughout the course of the year.
Preseason
Today's hosts played seven friendlies this summer and only won two of these matches, inlcuding three straight losses to end preseason. Although they looked decent in their match against Premier League side, Leicester City -- only loosing 2-3 -- the Blues had some bad losses to sides like Benfica II and Burton Albion.
Birmingham City manager, Gary Rowett will hope that this is not a sign of things to come for the year and that his squad will be able to turn it on when the whistle blows.
Reading had a little better time during these summer months as the visitors drew three of their five friendlies. Their opposition, though, were tougher. Against La Liga outfit Espanyol in their last match, they held the Spanish side scoreless for 90 minutes, which is a good accomplishment.
Hopefully this means that they will be a better defensive team this time around because last year, they had the 20th worst goals allow stat, giving up 67 goals in 46 matches played.
Referee
Mr. Peter Bankes will be the man controlling the action today. He is a fairly young referee with most of his experience coming in League One or League Two play. However, he has refeed the odd Championship match and was a fourth referee in a Premier League match between Crystal Palace and Swansea on the last day of the season.
If the play starts to get a bit too rough, he will nto shy away from showing a yellow card as he can give out anywhere between four and seven yellow cards each time out; unafraid to show a red if necessary.
What they're saying
Blues boss, Rowett, "And that's what it's about really for me so yes it's Reading ... but I think the main aim for us is to see if we can do our little bit at home and lift our crowd." He also states that he believes there is great chemistry within the squad and feels that Birmingham can accomplish great things this season.
Steven Reid joined Reading this past offseason as a new addition to the coaching staff this summer. Here are his thoughts on how preseason went, "“I’ve had pre-seasons where I’ve won every game and then we got off to a terrible start in the league, and there have been pre-seasons where I’ve lost a lot and got off to a great start."