Fulham Under-23s’ PL Cup Group campaign will come to a close on Friday as Reading make the short journey to Motspur Park.
Reading go into the game on the back of two league defeats against lowly Sunderland and Newcastle as they slip to third in the table.
The Young Whites will be hoping to bounce back and qualify for the last 16 of the tournament after losing narrowly 2-1 to Southampton last week.
The Current Picture:
Group G is finely poised with the top two teams from each group advancing. Reading have already qualified as Fulham battle it out with Birmingham Under-23s for the final qualification spot.
We sit on nine points ahead of the visit of The Royals and should we draw, barring an emphatic eight goal win by Birmingham against Colchester Under-23s, we will advance. Alternatively, the Birmingham result is meaningless should we pick up all three points.
Last Time Out:
Upon travelling to Reading twice in a week in league and cup, Nicolas Santos-Clase’s goal couldn’t salvage a point from the Cup game. Adrian Popa and Conor Lawless struck within two minutes of each other to make Santos-Clase’s clever finish merely a consolation.
View From the Gaffer:
Mark Pembridge is viewing the game as a good chance to focus his side’s attention away from the league, with the possibility of a Cup run in sight.
“Progressing in the Cup will keep the season alive, this is something different to go for and it will be good to see how the boys react.” He told fulhamfc.com.
“We started well against Southampton but we couldn’t get to grips with their system. They scored a good goal and a lucky goal. Once we got the ball into those wide areas we got more joy, but we were chasing the game. We did get the goal but it was ten minutes too late. We could have had a chance to grab an equaliser if that was the case.”
“We’ve played Reading a couple of times this season. We were unlucky last time out. We deserved something last time but it’s obviously a game we need to get something from to go through.
“Their results won’t differ from what they do or how hard they work. This will be difficult, but one we are looking forward to. There aren’t many games this season where we are saying ‘we were well beaten’ – maybe only twice this season. Friday’s game being one, and Newcastle away being the other."
The Boss also gave an update on a couple of injuries sustained in the last couple of weeks, and those on the fringes – including Cameron Thompson and Tayo Edun.
“Tommo got injured against Colchester and it was a bad hamstring pull, he will be out for a while. When you lose players on loan that will score 20 over the season then it hinders you somewhat. There was no coincidence when the boys came back off loan we got some positive results.
“Tayo hasn’t played for a while. He played more time than we would have wanted at Colchester. He has a thigh strain at the moment so it’s about managing him back in.”