Huddersfield Town travel to Reading tomorrow night looking to secure their first Championship points of the 2014/2015 season after slipping to a second successive league defeat at Cardiff City on Saturday.
Town went down to Peter Whittingham's wonder goal and a Kenwyne Jones brace in a 3-1 reverse, but turned in a much-improved display after the previous weekend's 4-0 drubbing by Bournemouth, when Mark Robins left the club.
But they will hope to bounce back when they head to Reading for Tuesday night's encounter at the Madejski Stadium, where they will come up against a side with four points from their opening two games and sat seventh as a result.
And here is everything you need to know about the game as Town look to get their first Championship points on the board at the third time of asking.
Kick-off
Reading v Huddersfield Town (8pm)
The likely line-ups
Reading (4-3-3): Federici; Gunter (capt), Hector, Pearce, Cummings; Akpan, Taylor, Obita; Cox, Pogrebnyak, Blackman.
Huddersfield Town (4-3-1-2): Smithies; Smith, Lynch (capt), Wallace, Dixon; Butterfield, Hogg, Coady; Majewski; Stead, Wells.
Team news
Reading: New signings Anton Ferdinand and Jamie Mackie are doubts, with the former missing the weekend win over Ipswich Town through illness, whilst Mackie has a hamstring problem.
Boss Nigel Adkins is therefore expected to name an unchanged lineup, with Pavel Pogrebnyak the only slight fitness concern after suffering a dead leg in the 1-0 triumph over the Tractor Boys.
Hal Robson-Kanu, Danny Williams, Jem Karacan (all knee), Garath McCleary (back) and Danny Guthrie (calf) are all likely to miss Tuesday night’s clash, however.
Huddersfield Town: Caretaker boss Mark Lillis remains without striker James Vaughan and defender Anthony Gerrard (both calf) and he is sweating over the fitness of captain Lee Peltier, who is nursing a groin complaint.
Joe Lolley (hip), Martin Paterson (knee) and Oscar Gobern (toe) are also sidelined.
Ones to watch
Reading: Michael Hector - The defender stroke midfielder has already proven his versatility this term by filling in multiple positions and is one of the Royals' brightest young prospects.
He will hope to further enhance his stock with another powerful display against Town having already grabbed an assist this term and was one of the primary reasons why his side were able to keep a clean sheet against the likes of David McGoldrick and Daryl Murphy at the weekend.
Huddersfield Town: Radoslaw Majewski - The Pole did not enjoy his best performance on Saturday and was guilty of missing a couple of presentable opportunities which could have given his side a potentially valuable advantage.
But he was still his usual busy self, looking to pull the strings for Town in midfield and keep them on the move. It will be these facets to his game which he must demonstrate once more against the Royals if the Terriers are to have any hope of grabbing a positive result.
What the bookies say
Reading are the 10/11 favourites ahead of the game with Town out at 3/1 to secure all three points, while the draw can be backed at 12/5.
Simon Cox and Pogrebnyak are the joint-5/1 favourites for first goalscorer honours while Town's best bet in that field is, again, Nahki Wells at sevens given Vaughan's (15/2) continued absence.
Last time they met
The previous encounter between these two sides finished all square. The two sides played out a 1-1 draw at the Madejski Stadium in March, with Nahki Wells opening the scoring for Town after just four miniutes, only for Pavel Pogrebnyak to reply almost instantly.
In the reverse fixture in 2013/2014, the Royals came away from the John Smith's Stadium with all three points thanks to former loanee and new Leeds United signing Billy Sharp's first-half header from a Pogrebnyak cross.
Watch: Town reporter Doug Thomson on Town's trip to Reading
Match facts
Head-to-head
Reading are unbeaten in the last five meetings between these two sides across all competitions, winning four. Town's last win at Reading was a 2-0 success in the old Division One way back in March 1998.
Huddersfield have come out on top in just one of their last nine visits to the Royals in all competitions.
Reading
Adkins' side are unbeaten in their last six games in all competitions dating back to last season, with the Royals winning four of those. Their last defeat was 3-0 at Wigan on 18 April, where they drew 2-2 on opening day this time around.
Huddersfield Town
Since drawing 1-1 with Brighton and Hove Albion over the Easter weekend last season, the Terriers sequence of results has read WLWLWL in their six matches across all competitions over the two respective league seasons.
What the managers say
Nigel Adkins: "We'll look at the group and their availability, we were in on Sunday, we had one or two knocks and maybe one or two more youngsters might be making their debuts!
"Saturday was a physical game, for example Pav [Pogrebnyak] worked relentlessly up front despite getting a dead leg.
"At the moment there's eight unavailable senior players to add to the group, when we get them we'll be healthy.
"None of them will be available for Huddersfield but we're looking forward to them coming back and we're excited for Tuesday's game.
Mark Lillis: “The main focus for the Club, the players and I is Reading.
"Like any Manager in any division, I want to get three points on Tuesday night.
“Reading will be a tough one, but every Championship game is.
"It might be a different type of game than Saturday – I’m looking forward to it.
"We’re looking to come out with a decent result. We have a group of players here that we believe in.”
Man in the middle
Stuart Attwell (Warwickshire). Was in charge of Leeds United's 1-0 win over Middlesbrough at the weekend, issuing out four yellow cards and in his other two games so far this season he has brandished a further three and a red card.
Also handed out four bookings when he last officiated a Town game - the 2-1 win over Charlton Athletic last term - and also oversaw Town's FA Cup defeat against the Addicks later in the season.
Tom says
"To face a team as strong as Reading so quickly off the back of the Cardiff City defeat will be a real examination of Town's mental and physical ability but they will see this fixture as the easiest of the difficult-looking matches in August.
"The home game with Charlton Athletic at the weekend will be a game they look at as a must-win but any result against the Royals could alleviate the pressure significantly.
"Adkins' men look, at least on paper, like they can be got at with so many homegrown youth products in the starting lineup but it will ultimately depend on whether Joel Lynch and Murray Wallace can keep Pogrebnyak and Cox quiet in attack.
"If they can, it will form the perfect foundation for Town to strut their stuff in midfield and, hopefully, find their shooting boots in attack.
"I'm not sure Town will secure the result they are looking for tomorrow night, but I believe they will go one step closer on their road to recovery after the disaster of the opening weekend. 2-1."
