Both clubs have a pressing need for victory in this Madejski Stadium match-up as Huddersfield Town chase a first win in six and Reading aim to keep their bid for the Championship play-offs on track.

The Royals have been 1-0 winners in each of the last four meetings of the pair in league and cup.

But that sequence stretches back to the 2001-02 season, and 12 years on, Nigel Adkins’ side are struggling for consistency as they chase an immediate return to the Premier League.

Reading have racked up 16 wins in their 38 league games so far, but only seven of them have been on their own Berkshire soil.

They have gone five at home without a victory.

And Town aim to make it Reading 0 Yorkshire 3 after success for both Sheffield Wednesday and Barnsley at the Mad Stad this year.

The only consolation for Reading in the wake of Tuesday’s 3-1 loss to Barnsley was that they remained sixth as a result of Nottingham Forest’s home setback against Charlton.

But they will be desperate to remain masters of their own destiny, and that means collecting three points at Town’s expense.

Town, of course, twice held the lead but had to be satisfied with a share of the spoils at home to Middlesbrough.

Individual mistakes proved costly, just as in the dismal day out at Blackpool in the preceding match, and 16th-placed Town clearly need to tighten up in that respect.

Both sets of fans will be focused on their forwards.

Will Mark Robins pair Nahki Wells and James Vaughan from the off after leaving the latter on the bench against Boro as his return from a torn calf is ‘managed’?

And will Adkins start with Adam Le Fondre?

Like Vaughan, the man who played under Robins at Rotherham had to make do with appearing as a substitute on Tuesday.

Le Fondre is Reading’s top scorer with 13 goals, but hasn’t netted in his last nine appearances, and has competition from Russian Pavel Pogrebnyak (10 goals) and Hal Robson-Kanu (three).

Vaughan, meanwhile, is desperate to add to his 12-goal haul after going 10 games without one.

It could be that Town come up against former loan defender Sean Morrison, a star of their 2012 League I play-off final triumph who is returning from a knee injury.

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