Derby County vs Reading; Sky Bet Championship
Derby County vs Reading. Sky Bet Championship.
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Derby vs Reading preview
Friday 18 January 2019 10:38, UK
Frank Lampard will make changes to his Derby team when they resume Championship action against Reading.
Much will depend on recovery after the Rams played 90 minutes and extra time before winning their FA Cup third-round replay against Southampton on penalties, and the late finish at St Mary's did not see Derby arrive home until the early hours of Thursday morning.
Lampard swapped six players against Saints in midweek. Scott Carson will resume in goal while full-back Andre Wisdom is also expected to return to the starting line up. Midfielders Tom Lawrence, George Evans and Duane Holmes could also be recalled.
Harry Wilson made his comeback against Southampton and the on-loan Liverpool attacker will have his hip problem assessed after playing 102 minutes. Marcus Olsson (knee), Craig Forsyth (knee) and Curtis Davies (Achilles) all remain sidelined by injury.
Reading boss Jose Gomes has players making progress in their recoveries from injury, but not quickly enough to be in contention on Saturday. Callum Harriot, Paul McShane, John O'Shea and Yakou Meite are all back in training but not ready to play. Saeid Ezatolahi is still in the process of recovering and Sam Baldock is out.
Transfer-listed trio Vito Mannone, Marc McNulty and David Meyler are all fit but not in contention while Jordan Obita has suffered a setback in his comeback from a serious knee injury and will not play again this season. The Royals defeated Nottingham Forest last weekend and are looking to win successive games in the Championship for the first time since November 2017.
Opta stats
Derby haven't kept a clean sheet in any of their last 13 home league games against Reading, conceding 29 goals (W3 D2 L8).
Reading haven't lost consecutive league games against Derby since January 2005, when they lost both games during the 2004-05 season.
Including own goals, 35 of Derby's Championship goals this season have been scored by British players, with only West Brom having more (53).
Since José Gomes' first Championship match in charge on Boxing Day, Reading have completed more passes than any other side (1,769) and only Leeds (67%) have averaged a higher share of possession than the Royals (60%).
Derby had just 37% possession in their 0-2 defeat to Leeds United - their lowest in a Championship match under manager Frank Lampard.
Reading haven't won consecutive Championship matches since December 2017, under Jaap Stam.
Prutton's prediction
After all the 'Spygate' fallout Frank Lampard would have been happy to get back out and see his Derby side claim a great victory at Southampton in the FA Cup in midweek.
Reading finally got back to winning ways last weekend and Jose Gomes claimed his first victory as manager, which will be a huge lift to both him and the club. Derby could be tired after such a long game on Wednesday, but I think they will still have enough here to claim all three points.
David Prutton predicts: 2-1 (15/2 with Sky Bet)
