In-form and out-of-form are the only ways to describe Reading and Barnsley at the moment, as they face off at the Select Car Leasing Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

The hosts went into the international break losing just one game in their last six, despite an injury crisis with over eight players ruled out for each of those six games.

Meanwhile for the away side it has been an awful start, being winless in their last nine games, and only winning once all season in the Championship.

With Barnsley manager Markus Schopp under a lot of pressure because of the bad form, a win is a must for the Tykes.

Team news

Reading are without over ten players for Saturday, with the likes of Lucas Joao, Yakou Meite, Michael Morrison and Alen Halilovic all sidelined.

Scott Dann is fit and should be able to make his first start of the season, however Junior Hoilett picked up a knock on international duty with Canada, so needs to be assessed. Andy Yiadom and Andy Rinomhota will also need late fitness tests.

Barnsley will be without summer signing Josh Benson in midfield, after he picked up a leg injury earlier this week, so he will miss out. Carlton Morris and Mads Juel Andersen are both still unavailable for selection.

Predicted lineups

Reading:

Southwood; Yiadom, Moore, Dann, Baba, Drinkwater, Laurent, Dele-Bashiru, Swift, Ejaria, Puscas.

Barnsley:

Collins; Kitching, Helik, Moon, Brittain, Palmer, Styles, Williams, Woodrow, Iseka, Cole.

Ones to watch

John Swift

The midfielder has arguably been the best player in the division so far this season, having more goal contributions than games so far, with seven goals and five assists to his name so far. The Royals will need him to keep up his form if they are to push up the table.

Michal Helik

The Pole has been a shining light in a struggling Barnsley side this term. Despite having to play with two young centre-backs, he has managed to keep up his form that made him one of the best centre-backs last season.

Previous meetings

The last time these two sides met was back in April, when both sides were hunting down a play-off place. Ovie Ejaria gave the away side the lead, before Barnsley's former captain Alex Mowatt equalised from the penalty spot, as the game finished 1-1.

How to watch

This game kicks-off on Saturday, October 16 at 15:00, and is available to watch via the clubs’ respective streaming services, costing £10.