Middlesbrough vs Reading. Sky Bet Championship.
Riverside StadiumAttendance23,491.
Friday 9 February 2018 12:43, UK
Middlesbrough striker Rudy Gestede will be available to face Reading after winning an appeal against a three-match ban.
Gestede was sent off 28 minutes into last Saturday's 1-0 defeat at Norwich for a challenge on Grant Hanley, but the club argued successfully against the decision and the Football Association rescinded the red card.
The former Aston Villa frontman was one of two changes to the starting line-up at Carrow Road as he and Adam Clayton replaced Britt Assombalonga and Jonny Howson. Boro boss Tony Pulis kept his three late January signings Mo Besic, Martin Cranie and Jack Harrison on the bench in Norfolk, and they will hope for a first taste of action for their new club.
Reading will be without defender Tommy Elphick, who recently joined from Aston Villa until the end of the season, after he had surgery on a knee injury sustained last week against Millwall. Striker Chris Martin could make a first start after coming off the bench following his loan move from Derby.
Midfielder John Swift and defender Omar Richards continue their recoveries from respective hamstring injuries and will be monitored. Forward Joseph Mendes is training with the team again after his knee injury, but captain Paul McShane (hamstring) and Jordan Obita (knee) remain sidelined.
Middlesbrough have won their last two league matches against Reading - they have never won three consecutively against the Royals.
Reading have alternated between a win and a defeat in their last five league visits to the Riverside - they lost their last game there in April 2016.
Middlesbrough have won every Championship match in which they've gone ahead this season (13 games), the only 100% record of its kind in the division.
Reading have already lost one more league match this season (14) than they did in the entirety of Jaap Stam's first season in charge last year (13).
Tony Pulis has won one of his last eight matches against Reading in all competitions (D3 L4).
Jon Dadi Bodvarsson has scored five of Reading's six goals in all competitions in 2018 (excl. own goals).
It's very much been a case of one step forward and two steps back for Tony Pulis so far at Middlesbrough. Everyone expected him to galvanise the squad and get them up into contention for the play-offs and even automatic promotion, but it hasn't quite happened yet.
Reading, however, are on a dreadful run and present a perfect opportunity for Boro. Jaap Stam is under real pressure and you worry for him if they lose again on Saturday, and I think they'll get edged out.
David Prutton predicts: 1-0 (9/2 with Sky Bet)
