Reading look to get back on winning trail with visit of Luton Town

Reading began the season brilliantly, winning seven of their first eight games but have since struggled.

In the following twelve matches, the Royals have secured just three victories which has seen them plummet all the way down to eighth in the table – albeit they are only out of the play-off places on goal difference, falling below both Stoke City and Middleborough as well as the side that beat them – Brentford.

A large part of this has been down to the amount of injuries which manager Veljko Paunovic has had to deal with of late and he lost another key player in the form of Everton loanee Lewis Gibson on the weekend, who looks set for a lengthily spell on the sidelines.

Despite the injuries and lack of form, they have got a great opportunity to return to winning ways on Boxing Day when they host Luton who have also been in mixed form of late – winning just one of their last five.

The Hatters can move to within three points of the Berkshire club with victory but it is vital for Reading to get the winning formula back after a tough spell of recent results.

Despite the poor run of the results, Paunovic isn’t looking at the table and is more focused about the games which are coming. He spoke about this after the 3-1 defeat at Brentford on Saturday.

“It’s not good for us to be attached to the standings. We have to look at our performances and look at our next opponent and how we can build form over the next stretch.

That’s what we control. When we were first and seven points clear, I said don’t look at the table because this is a marathon and we know this goes in cycles.

Now it’s the same, I’m going to encourage everyone to keep looking at themselves and our next opponent, and how we can prepare best for them.”

The sides met twice in the Championship last season, with Reading winning by a combined score of 8-0 thanks to victories of 3-0 and 5-0, but Nathan Jones’ side did beat the Royals 1-0 at the Madejski Stadium in the Carabao Cup earlier in the season.

These teams have locked horns on ten occasions to date in all competitions, with Reading dominating the head to head record, winning seven of the ten clashes, with one draw and two victories for Luton.

Paunovic’s side have largely performed well at home this season, collecting 18 points to date, while the away side have found it tough on their travels, collecting just eleven points from their ten games on their travels and hold the 15th best away record.

Our writer and editor Tom Mason (@tom_mason18 on Twitter) will be at the game to give you full coverage of this Boxing Day clash as both sides look to rediscover their form which they showed at the start of the season.

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