JAAP STAM has called on the Reading fans to win the battle off the pitch with their Leeds counterparts.
The Yorkshire club are set to pack out the away end tomorrow afternoon (3pm), which will in itself help boost the fading Madejski Stadium attendances.
PODCAST: Tom and Olly discuss Bolton, Holmes, Leeds and the crowd numbers
For the last two home games against Sheffield United and Bolton Wanderers, the official attendance figure was under 10,000 and while they were both midweek games, the numbers are disappointing.
“Leeds always bring a lot of people and they always make a lot of noise,” said Stam.
“That’s what we’ve seen over there, that’s what we’ve seen last season over here as well.
“Hopefully our fans can make more noise than they can so we’ll just wait and see what happens on Saturday.
“We always want a big crowd.
“Everybody wants that, all the players want that as well but it’s not up to me to say how many people are coming or why people are not turning up.
“I think for the squad it’s better that everybody is there supporting the team, no matter what position we are it’s always nice to have the fans there backing you.”
Form
On the pitch, Reading’s poor run extended to just one win in 15 Championship matches with a 1-1 draw against Bolton on Tuesday night, leaving them 18th in the table, five points clear of the bottom three.
Leeds are not in much better shape themselves. Despite hiring a new boss in Paul Heckingbottom, the Whites have faded off the play-off pace and sit 13th with just one win in 12 following a 3-0 thrashing against Wolves on Wednesday.
Team news
Stam shocked many with his team selection on Tuesday, making six changes from the defeat to Sheffield United.
The two eye-catching switches saw Anssi Jaakkola replace Vito Mannone in goal while 17-year-old centre-back Tom Holmes came in for his debut. Fitness permitting, both are
expected to retain their places in the team on Saturday.
INTERVIEW: Tom Holmes admits he thought first team call-up was a joke
John Swift continued his comeback to fitness as a second half substitute and he could be in line for a start while Yann Kermorgant (calf) could make the squad. Jon Dadi Bodvarsson is pushing hard to replace Chris Martin or Sone Aluko in the front-line but Omar Richards (calf) and Garath McCleary (broken ankle) miss out.
As for Leeds, they are sweating on the fitness of key defender Liam Cooper, who suffered a dead leg against Wolves while young goalkeeper Bailey Peacock-Farrell made his first appearance of the season in midweek and is likely to keep his spot.
What they said
Stam: “We’ve got a lot of games upcoming in a very short period.
“Every game is interesting and every game you go in thinking that you can get something out of it.
“The Leeds game now is a very important one – not only for us, but for them as well. Both teams will be playing to win, so we’ll need to show the same energy and more on Saturday.
“You know what you’re going to get, and that’s not a problem. Hopefully the players can deal with it well and hopefully we can get a result against them.
“If we can get something out of every game, we will be happy. We want to get three points as often as we can but we know it’s not easy to do that.”
Heckingbottom: “Reading are playing the same way they did last year, wanting to dominate the ball and create chances.
“I thought they recruited really well in the summer, but looking back at it, compared to last season, they won so many games 1-0 last season, they just haven’t had the rub of the green in the same way.
“They’ve maybe been conceding the first goal or losing or drawing those tight games, which they were winning last season, but their approach and how they play is no different.
“We need to get on the front foot, it is no good starting positive and then conceding though, we need to do it throughout.”
Previous meetings
Reading have some happy recent memories against Leeds. In the reverse fixture back in October, the Royals came away with a 1-0 win thanks to Mo Barrow’s goal and a late Vito Mannone penalty save.
And this corresponding fixture last season also ended 1-0 with Reading picking up three vital points on their way to the play-offs thanks to Yann Kermorgant’s winner.
Leeds’ last win at the Mad Stad came in 2015 and they lead the overall head-to-head with nine wins to eight while eight meetings have ended level.
Who else is in action?
All of Reading’s relegation rivals are also in action on Saturday. Rock-bottom Sunderland go to QPR while two teams desperate for victory in Sheffield Wednesday and Bolton clash at Hillsborough.
Elsewhere, Burton host Bristol City, Hull welcome Norwich and there are tricky away trips for Barnsley at Middlesbrough and Birmingham go to Cardiff.
Odds
Interestingly, the bookies have Reading as favourites for victory, despite only winning three home league games all season and none on a Saturday for 11 months.
They are 8/5 for the win while Leeds are priced at 9/5 with the draw available at 21/10.
Pierre Michel Lasogga is the favourite to score first at 9/2, while for the hosts, in-form Mo Barrow is 11/2 to break the deadlock.
Follow @WokinghamSport and @TomJCrocker on Twitter tomorrow for updates from the ground and post-match reaction.
