"Lucas Joao has cut a frustrated figure.." inside knowledge on Sheffield Wednesday's next opponents, Reading
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We all know they’ve got former Owls forward Lucas Joao up top, but what else do we know of the Royals?
We spoke to Reading Chronicle’s Reading FC writer Matt Joy to get a better idea of what Wednesday are up against.
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Hide AdReading are challenging at the top of the Championship. What's been the story of their season?
After a scintillating start to life under Veljko Paunovic, injuries have taken their toll and prevented Reading from keeping in touch with the automatic places.
It's still been a season that has exceeded Royals fans expectations after a couple of uneventful campaigns and the aim is now to consolidate a play-off position, with the chasing pack having closed in following a dip in form from Paunovic's men before recent back-to-back wins.
Lucas Joao has clearly been a big addition. Just how good has he been? Did Reading get a bargain?
Lucas Joao's goals have been the main reason Reading find themselves in the position they do.
Despite a couple of quieter games, throughout the year he has demonstrated intelligence on the ball, strength against opposition defenders and relentless ruthlessness in front of goal.
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Hide AdIn recent weeks he has cut a frustrated figure after being marked closely by opposition defenders, so the aim for Wednesday has to be to try and squeeze him out of the game.
Reading, like Wednesday, have a host of injuries. How much could this hamper them?
George Puscas had a man-of-the-match performance in his return from a lengthy lay-off on Tuesday. Yakou Meite is nearing a return, which would be a massive boost should he make the starting XI on Saturday.
But Reading will be missing two key players in Andy Rinomhota and Michael Morrison on Saturday - both of whom had previously been ever-presents in the team.
Reading do possess decent depth in these positions but the duo have both enjoyed brilliant seasons so their respective replacements have big shoes to fill.
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Hide AdWhat style of play should Wednesdayites expect to see from Reading?
Should Meite be fit to start, it'll likely be a return to a 4-2-3-1 that has been Paunovic's go-to this season. Injuries meant that Reading played in more of a conventional 4-4-2 on Tuesday evening which did get the best out of George Puscas as previously mentioned, so Paunovic may be tempted to keep a winning formula against the Owls.
Who will Reading's key men be?
It is hard to look past Lucas Joao, but Michael Olise and Ovie Ejaria are also two players for Wednesday fans to keep an eye out for. The pair are technically outstanding and can create something from nothing with their skill and range of passing in behind Joao.
Should Wednesday have any chance of shocking the form book at the Madejski, it'll be key to keep these two as well-marshalled as possible.
Score prediction?
I'm backing Reading to make it three wins on the spin, especially if they score the first goal of the game. With Wednesday's abject recent form and Reading's mini-resurgence, it's hard not to predict a home win. 2-0.