Reading

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Reading have confirmed their League One fixtures against Wycombe Wanderers and Bradford City will go ahead despite three Royals players receiving international call-ups.

Midfielders Andy Rinomhota and Charlie Savage plus defender Jeriel Dorsett will be absent over the extended international break.

EFL rules state clubs are eligible to request the postponement of a league fixture if they have three or more players called up for international duty.

Five of the nine League One fixtures this Saturday have already been postponed along with seven of 11 on the following Saturday, however Royals boss Leam Richardson has opted not to postpone the Wycombe game.

Reading also state, external "as things stand, our fixture against Bradford City a week on Saturday will go ahead as scheduled".

Rinomhota, who has started all six of Reading's League One games this term, will join up with Zimbabwe as they face Sierra Leonne and DR Congo in African Cup of Nations qualifiers.

Savage, 23, who has made six appearances off the bench in the league, has been recalled by Wales after making his senior debut against Gibraltar in October 2023.

Craig Bellamy's side face Portugal, Denmark twice and Norway in Uefa Nations League fixtures.

Dorsett, who has made two league starts, has been selected by Montserrat who play four fixtures, twice against the British Virgin Islands and Turks and Caicos Islands.

"Football is a squad game and we have confidence in the players available to us, while keeping the fixture in place also helps us avoid adding another game to an already busy schedule," Richardson said.

"It's better for the supporters too. Saturday afternoon is the ideal time to play football whenever circumstances allow, so we were pleased to keep this one in place."

It's been a bad week for officials. Hot on the heels of the VAR fiasco in the Manchester derby, the match officials mysteriously ruled out a perfectly good equaliser for Reading against Brentford in the Carabao Cup third round.

There was also a clear handball penalty shout turned down later in the game, but nobody is talking about that because the disallowed goal was so outrageous.

Referee Tom Nield, with a bit of help from his assistant, decided Paudie O'Connor's acrobatic goal should not stand, because his boot flew too high.

The officials' only possible justification was they were momentarily stunned by the big central defender suddenly morphing into Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

"It was in the top three worst decisions I've seen," said an understandably disgruntled Royals boss Leam Richardson.

"It was one of the worst decisions I've seen in my whole life," said irritated midfielder Charlie Savage. The rest of us could only nod and agree.

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Reading fans left the SCL Stadium upset with the officials after the 2-1 defeat on Tuesday evening, but they're likely to be upset before they even arrive for the game against Notts County on Saturday.

Officials from Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) have decided it will be a good weekend to replace a pylon, and will close junction 11 of the M4, right next to the stadium.

The knock-on for both Reading and Notts County fans trying to get to the ground, along with those trying to get to the race meeting at Newbury and the Newbury show a couple of junctions west, is likely to be severe.

On the pitch, despite losing last Saturday in the league at Cambridge, and then to Brentford, the players ought to be confident.

Giving a fright to a Premier League team, who resorted to bringing on Igor Thiago of Brazil to try to seal the game, was impressive.

There appears to be competition for places across the pitch in the Reading camp, which just has not been the case for the past couple of seasons.

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Reading head coach Leam Richardson says his team will "attack the game" when they play Brentford in the Carabao Cup..

The Royals host the Premier League side in the third round having previously seen off Bromley and Stevenage.

"Everybody's itching to play which is important," Richardson told BBC Radio Berkshire.

"We certainly will attack the game to try and win it so I think we'll dust ourselves down after the Cambridge loss and we will come back better for it.

"We know what challenge is coming and we'll have to be at our best to compete but hopefully we can keep giving the level of performance that the lads have been giving and we can grow from there."

Reading come into Tuesday's game off the back of a narrow loss away at Cambridge and have only won twice in League One this season.

They are14th in the third tier, while Keith Andrews' Brentford are yet to lose this season and thumped Birmingham 6-1 at St Andrew's in round two of the cup.

Brentford have spent the past five seasons in the Premier League having spent most of their history outside of the top flight.

Richardson is hoping that Reading can take inspiration from the Bees' rise through the leagues and mount a promotion charge of their own.

"As an organisation and as a business what they've done over the last few years has been extraordinary," Richardson added.

"They've built themselves into a stable and consistent Premier League club which is something that we want to strive for.

"If we can take little bits from the likes of Brentfords and Brightons then we'll be in a good place."

Tim Dellor
BBC Radio Berkshire

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Time will tell whether this was a good or bad transfer window for Reading.

On paper, it looks like an upgrade in quality but a reduction in quantity.

Providing the club can sort out its dubious fitness and injury record of the past few seasons, this has been a shrewd approach.

Comparing the ins and outs is probably the fastest way to look for improvement or decline.

Jamie Reid for Kelvin Ehibhatiomhan at striker, Josh Knight for Derrick Williams in central defence, Kyreece Lisbie for Matt Ritchie on the right wing, George Earthy and Josh Stokes for Kamari Doyle at number 10, Udoka Godwin Malife for Ryan Nyambe at right-back, Conor Masterson and Jacob Brown in defence and attack for Michael Stickland and Mark O'Mahony.

By the end of October, fans will be able to say whether the options in each position available to manager Leam Richardson have been upgraded or reduced.

The irritation of undisclosed fees also makes it difficult for outsiders to evaluate business.

Without knowing for sure how much the club received for the sale of Ehibhatiomhan, what was paid for Reid or any of the other deals, it is almost impossible to describe it as a good or bad window.

What we do know is Reading were shopping with a limited budget and ought not to be considered as League One big spenders.

Reading fans know better than anyone the perils of spending big.

It is also difficult for Reading fans to know what they want. The sensible, pragmatic and cautious approach under Rob Couhig is in stark contrast to the crazy spending of Dai Yongge that landed the club in such a mess.

Fans nowadays are very careful what they wish for.

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Forest Green have signed right-back Kelvin Abrefa on loan from Reading until December.

The 22-year-old has played 83 games for the Royals, including 22 League One appearances last season.

"It's a position we've needed cover in for a while, so he now gives us good options to choose from in the squad," manager Robbie Savage told the club website., external

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Reading have signed Northern Ireland striker Jamie Reid from Stevenage on a two-year deal, for an undisclosed fee.

The 32-year-old has spent the past five years at Broadhall Way, scoring 69 goals in 245 appearances.

He helped them win promotion from League Two in 2022-2023, and was named in the League One Team of the Season in 2023-2024.

His 14 goals last season helped Stevenage finish fifth and reach the League One play-offs.

Reid has also scored two goals in 16 caps for Northern Ireland.

Royals boss Leam Richardson told the club website, external: "Jamie is a proven goalscorer at this level and somebody who has consistently shown what he can bring to a team over a number of years.

"He works incredibly hard, he's intelligent with his movement and he knows where the goal is. He can lead the line, play off other forwards and gives us another really good option at the top end of the pitch."

Analysis

Tim Dellor, BBC Radio Berkshire

Fans have been crying out for the recruitment of a specialist striker. Jack Marriott's goalscoring record is superb, hitting the net 17 times last campaign, but his injury history is a concern.

Reid will give manager Leam Richardson more reliable goalscoring cover. Last season Kelvin Ehibhatiohman acted as Marriott's understudy, but he's departed during this window.

Richardson has made no secret of his desire to strengthen in central defence and up front. Reid and Jacob Brown have come in to score the goals. Josh Knight and Conor Masterson will fortify defence. They've both arrived at Reading in the last week.

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Transfer deadline day is upon us and today is the final chance for your EFL club to finalise any business until January.

The transfer window closes at 23:00 BST, so we might have some late night scrambles to get deals over the line.

There has already been plenty of movement this summer and whether it's a busy or quiet day for your club, you will be able to keep across it all on BBC Sport.

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