Following Monday's thrashing at Craven Cottage, Luton Town look to end the week, and season, on a high.
Town welcome lowly Reading to Kenilworth Road. The Royals have secured their Championship safety so perhaps its a bit of a dead rubber for the visitors. However, this is a huge game for the hosts as they look to earn their spot in the playoffs.
With Millwall and Middlesbrough snapping at the Hatters' heels, a win is vital for Nathan Jones' side. The 7-0 demolition job at champions Fulham will be pushed firmly to the back of the mind going into this one.
As said, Reading are safe and come into this fixture off the back of a 1-0 defeat against West Brom. It seems to have been a bit of a dismal season for the Berkshire side, as injuries to key men like Lucas Joao have stalled momentum at times.
Following defeat away to Hull City the week before, a post on fan site SBNation summed things up. “A dull game, defeat and lacklustre lap of appreciation - Saturday was a neat encapsulation of Reading's 2021/22 season.”
Aside from the dramatic nature of this game, Luton are looking to complete a league double over Reading for the first time since the 1999-00 season. The Hatters will draw comfort from the fact that the Royals have only won one of their last six away matches at Luton.
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Teams
Luton are approaching the end of the season with an almost skeletal starting XI. Injuries have littered the team sheet all season and its not changed in recent weeks. In last week's drubbing, Allan Campbell withdrew in the warmup and Fred Onyedinma didn't survive longer than 28 minutes on the West London turf.
With regulars like Pelly Ruddock-Mpanzu, Elijah Adebayo and Sonny Bradley out, it was at least good to see Jordan Clark come off the bench after some time side-lined. Getting 25 minutes at the Cottage, he could play a role on Saturday.
Adebayo, out with a hamstring injury, could be back for the midday kick off but it is uncertain. Harry Cornick, benched on Monday, is another one not fully fit.
Ahead of the trip to Bedfordshire, Reading are sweating on the fitness of Danny Drinkwater. Reading, a team who not so long ago suffered their own injury exodus, are also set to miss a few key players for Saturday afternoon's action. John Swift, Andy Rinomhota, Tom Ince, Andy Yiadom, and Scott Dann are all absentees.
Paul Ince lamented to Berkshire Live that his side are down to "the bare bones" but one positive is that defender Terell Thomas is in the squad once more, potentially providing back up from the bench.
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Predicted lineups
Luton Town: Ingram; Kioso, Burke, Lockyer, Potts, Bell, Lansbury, Naismith, Snodgrass, Jerome, Hylton.
Reading: Nyland, Thomas, Morrison, McIntyre, Baba, Hoilett, Dele-Bashiru, Abrefa, Ejaria, Laurent, Joao.
Kick-off time: 12:30 BST.
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Ones to watch
In the first 30 minutes against Fulham, Luton actually looked to hold their own believe it or not. Key components in that were the experienced duo of Cameron Jerome and Danny Hylton who despite their age really offered some great physicality moving forward. It just seemed that the final pass was missing.
If the likes of Robert Snodgrass, who's delivery is renowned, can find the big men up top Luton could cause Reading's defence problems. Additionally, Luton still have the energetic Harry Cornick from the bench, who although not fully fit - could have a big influence on introduction.
Reading's main man will be Lucas Joao, who despite missing a large portion of the season has come up with some key goals. The Portuguese forward has 10 to his name in just 23 Championship appearances.
A most notable performance was back in April. Joao bagged two goals and got an assist in his side's 4-4 draw against Swansea. His partner up top, Josh Laurent and winger Junior Hoilett could also provide pace and creativity that could be tough for Luton's makeshift line to deal with.
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Where to watch
The game is available to watch in the UK via Sky Sports and on the Sky GO app. Highlights will not be available on iFollow following EFL's overseas broadcast deal. Yet, highlights will be available on EFL On Quest and respective YouTube channels.