Preview: Nottingham Forest vs. Reading - prediction, team news, lineups

Reading will be looking to continue their recent winning run and cement their place in the Championship playoffs when they travel to Nottingham Forest on Saturday.

The Royals are fifth in the table, four points clear of Bournemouth in seventh, while Forest have suffered a dip in form and are 17th.

Match preview

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Reading's 3-0 triumph over Sheffield Wednesday last weekend was their third successive win and their joint biggest margin of victory so far this season.

It was only two and a half weeks ago that the Royals suffered a shock defeat to bottom club Wycombe Wanderers and there were questions over whether they would be able to sustain their playoff bid, but Veljko Paunovic's side are now firmly back on track.

After facing Forest, Reading travel to struggling Birmingham City, so will see an opportunity to keep up their winning run.

The Berkshire outfit have only lost two of their last 11 league matches on the road, and have kept a clean sheet in five of their most recent seven away trips.

Goalkeeper Rafael Cabral has kept 16 clean sheets in total in the Championship this season – only Swansea City's Freddie Woodman (17) has more.

Reading won 2-0 in this season's reverse fixture in December thanks to goals from Lucas Joao and Michael Morrison, but have not won at the City Ground in their last six visits there.

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Forest have won just five of their 17 home league matches this season and only one of the last five. Their games at the City Ground have tended to be low-scoring affairs, with only four Championship clubs scoring fewer goals at home, but only four conceding fewer too.

That is reflected in their wider form as well, as only one of their last seven fixtures has featured more than one goal, and that was a fairly tedious 1-1 draw against rivals Derby County.

1-0 defeats to Luton Town and Watford have followed that result, leaving Forest winless in three and with just three goals to their name in seven matches.

It does not get any easier for the Reds either, as Saturday's game is the start of a tough run of fixtures for Forest, as they also face Norwich City, Brentford and Cardiff City in the next three weeks – all sides currently in the top eight.

It means that relegation is not completely off the table for Chris Hughton's side who are eight points clear of the bottom three, particularly as 22nd place Rotherham United have three games in hand over them.

Team News

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Harry Arter, Scott McKenna and Lewis Grabban are all back in training for Nottingham Forest, but the trio are unlikely to be risked in case they reaggravate their injuries.

There is a battle for the left-back role between Yuri Ribeiro and Gaetan Bong, while the second holding midfield spot next to James Garner is also up for grabs – Ryan Yates seems the most likely candidate but did not seem 100% fit last weekend after returning from injury.

Veljko Paunovic has suggested that Andy Rinomhota, Yakou Meite and Ovie Ejaria could all play a part for Reading after recovering from their recent injuries.

It will leave Paunovic with a dilemma over which system to use – a diamond midfield worked particularly well against Sheffield Wednesday, but having Meite and Ejaria back available could tempt him to revert to a 4-2-3-1 and therefore drop George Puscas.

Nottingham Forest possible starting lineup:
Samba; Christie, Figueiredo, Worrall, Ribeiro; Garner, Yates; Knockaert, Krovinovic, Lolley; Murray

Reading possible starting lineup:
Rafael; Yiadom, Moore, McIntyre, Richards; Laurent, Semedo; Meite, Olise, Ejaria; Joao

We say: Nottingham Forest 0-1 Reading

Reading seem to have found their form again at just the right time, while Forest have done the opposite and are now going through a tricky patch. For that reason, we think the Royals will get all three points – but in keeping with the Reds' recent matches, it will be low-scoring.