Stevenage vs Reading: Match Preview

The Royals return to league action as they make the short trip to Hertfordshire.

After missing out on the playoffs last term, Stevenage looked like the team to beat going into this season, but it doesn’t seem to have gone that way.

A bit like Reading, it is their away games that are letting them down, with only one win in seven matches on the road. However, their home record is one to fear, with four wins from six. Stevenage are hoping to cause an upset on Saturday, continuing their fine home form against the Royals this weekend.

As stated, Reading are poor away from home so this game may be more of a struggle than some Royals fans hope. All the squad were rested in Tuesday’s cup encounter at Cheltenham Town, allowing full concentration on the league and potentially a good FA Cup run.

Similar to Stevenage, the Royals have been poor away from home, winning once in six attempts. However, the Royals currently are one of the most in-form teams at home, winning six out of their seven home games.

In this preview I will analyse Stevenage’s game against Bolton Wanderers, see where and how the Royals could exploit the hosts’ weaknesses, suggest personal changes that may prove key, and lastly give my predicted lineup for this important game.

In what could prove to be a challenging match, here is your preview.

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What? League One matchday 14

Season? 2024/25

Who? Stevenage

Where? Lamex Stadium

When? Saturday October 11

Time? 15:00

Opposition manager? Alex Revell

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Analysis of Stevenage 1-4 Bolton Wanderers

A 1-4 loss saw Stevenage walk away with zero points when hosting Bolton at the end of October. Stevenage conceded two set-piece goals and then two that were almost identical from each side.

Set-piece goals are sometimes undefendable, but the two conceded in this game were definitely caused by defensive mistakes.

Ricardo Santos scored the first goal from a corner. It looked like he was unmarked until the very last minute when it was too late - the ball was already in the back of the net. The bullet header went past the goalkeeper, the eventual player that was marking him, and the guy on the line.

It was a great corner routine, but Stevenage should have known that the ball was going to go to Santos from the corner. Santos has scored 14 goals in his career and six of them have come from headers.

What should have happened was the player who ended up getting to Santos going with him all along. The goal may still have happened, but it would have given them a little glimmer of hope that they then could have defended the next set-piece.

The second set-piece goal was one of those that is a 50-50; sometimes the ball gets cleared further than it did, not allowing John McAtee to get the strike off, and sometimes McAtee fluffs the shot completely and it comes to nothing.

It just happened to be that neither of those things happened: the ball, albeit cleared, wasn’t cleared enough, and then the Bolton midfielder was able to strike the ball into the ground, taking it over all the Stevenage defenders and into the net.

Sometimes there is just nothing you can do about that, but man marking I think is the problem here. Sometimes teams have to switch between zonal marking and man marking and here should have been zonal. If zonal marking is used here then there would have still been a player in the area to head the ball away, but there would have also been a player ready to close down McAtee when he took the shot, allowing them to potentially block the shot, or put him off so he miskicks the ball.

The two non set-piece goals conceded were caused by either Bolton winger beating their respective full-back and then putting a dangerous ball into the box. Both times the Stevenage players had a chance to get a touch on the ball but both times they had a swing at it and missed it, allowing the ball to fall into the path of the Bolton attackers.

The third goal conceded was the epitome of how the game played out. The winger Szabolcs Schön put the ball into the box, Luther James-Wildin missed the ball and then Victor Adeboyejo slotted it into the top right-hand corner.

Personally what went wrong for me here was the inability to regroup. It was clear that most of the defenders were relying on the full-back to win the ball and they weren’t prepared for the ball to come into the box. More could have also been done if James-Wildin didn’t panic when attempting to clear the ball.

Stevenage were sloppy in defence all game and this showed once again for the fourth goal. Winger Josh Dacres-Cogley had all the time in the world to pick out his cross as number three Dan Butler was out of position. The cross then came in and once again it was James-Wildin that let his man get ahead of him, allowing Dion Charles to get a tap on the ball, sending it past the ‘keeper to make it 4-1 to Wanderers.

Similar to the last, a lack of positioning and what seemed like a lack of care from the Stevenage defenders led to an easy ball and run into the box. If the game at that point had been 1-1, I think the goal would have been prevented.

There was a consolation between the third and fourth Bolton goals. Stevenage built an attack down their right-hand side with the ball going to Jamie Reid. He had a shot which ex-Reading keeper Luke Southwood saved, but he parried the ball out to Dan Kemp, who put the ball away into the bottom-left corner.

Overall it was a sloppy performance from Stevenage so they and their fans are itching to see an improvement. Nobody would have had them as far down the table as they are now but we can’t start making judgements until everyone has played everyone at least once in my opinion.

Where can Reading exploit weaknesses and who is capable of it?

From that game and some others it is clear that, when Stevenage get hit on the counter-attack, they start to panic. This means quick and confident players may be the key to break down their solid 4-2-3-1 shape.

Especially when a goal down, Stevenage commit too many men forward, creating space between the midfield two and the backline. In possession this creates a six-on-five, but then leaves a six-on-five on defence, meaning in fast build-up there is always one player in space.

Reading may be able to get a lot of joy on the right-hand side. This means I would suggest a fast, composed winger such as Adrian Akande or Basil Tuma. Mamadi Camara would also be a viable option as he can produce a good cross ready for either Sam Smith or Jayden Wareham to get on to.

On that left-hand side is where I think the Royals may struggle. My ideal player for the game would have been Kelvin Ehibhatioman, but sadly he is out injured for three months. His quick feet and burst of pace would have been key for taking on the Stevenage left-back, but seeing as we are without him, playing Camara on the left or Chem Campbell could also be good ideas. Camara gives the Royals the ability to cut inside and curl in a cross or a shot, whereas Campbell has a strong enough left foot to be able to get in a cross when running the byline.

Another thing that may exploit Stevenage is quick free-kicks. If the Royals are switched on enough, Stevenage taking too long to line up for a set-piece could work in Reading’s favour. Having set-piece specialists such as Lewis Wing and Charlie Savage could give a variety of different means to how the ball will be delivered. This would cause unpredictability and may lead to a great opportunity in front of goal.

Tactically, I think 4-3-3 could suit us well in this game. Having three midfielders to combat their three midfielders gives us an advantage as I think we have the more technically minded players there.

I will say who later in my preview, but I think having a specific player in the midfield gives us solid defensive cover, allowing the other two to roam forwards a little bit. Any ideas on who I am talking about? You’re about to find out.

My lineup

With the whole squad rested in midweek, the current first team should be all back up to fitness and ready for the away trip.

In goal it will be Joel Pereira. Our cat-like ‘keeper has been incredible this season and there is no way he gets dropped unless we concede 10.

The defence is more difficult to pick than some people think. Ashqar Ahmed has performed well in recent games and could deserve a run in the first team, similar to Tivonge Rushesha. My defence for the weekend will be Tivonge Rushesha, Tyler Bindon, Amadou Mbengue and Andre Garcia.

Lewis Wing and Ben Elliott are starters for the rest of the season and, from what it looks like, that is definitely deserved. But who to partner them? My mystery player is actually the multipurpose midfielder Michael Craig.

Although he has been incredible at right-back this season, I think he will be needed more in midfield for this match. His reading of the game is second to none and his ability to string a pass out of nowhere is one to be desired. I think if we play him in midfield then the Royals will have some joy.

Our front three is all mismatched at the moment. With Smith hoping to return for this weekend’s game and Ehibhatiomhan now out injured, it is getting harder and harder to predict who is going to play.

Ideally I would like to see a front three of Akande, Smith and Camara. However, with Akande playing 90 minutes on Tuesday, I think I am being hopeful if he plays again this weekend. So my predicted front three will be Campbell, Smith and Camara.

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Score prediction: 2-1 Royals!

I think this will be a tight one but the more support we can bring to the lads, the more passion they will have to succeed.

Good luck to the fans travelling to the game and good luck Reading.

Come on you Royals!