The Blades won the fixture at the Madejski Stadium earlier on in the season but fell behind early on when defender Matt Mills (13 minutes) headed home his first goal in a Royals shirt since his summer move from Doncaster Rovers and the score stayed the same until three minutes from the first half whistle. A cross into the box was eventually brought down by Ched Evans and sliced across goal for an unmarked Stephen Quinn (42) to tap the ball home.
Early in the second half the Blades saw Darius Henderson far post header disallowed for an infringement and on 62 minutes Jamie Ward's edge of the area shot was tumbled by Royals keeper Adam Federici which flashed into the back of the net and with the clock ticking down David Cotterill drove the ball home into the top left hand corner with Federici rooted to the spot.
Sheffield United are expected to host Reading with a fully strengthen side that as we believe with only on loan defender Marcel Siep (from Plymouth Argyle) out injured. The Dutch centre-half pulled up with an hamstring complaint ahead of their FA Cup defeat to Bolton Wanderers (0-2) in pre-training.
However the Bramall Lane club could hand a debut to winger Mark Yeates who completed his undisclosed move from Middlesbrough last week; he was cup-tied for the fixture at the Reebok Stadium last Saturday but is in contention for a start against the Royals tomorrow night.
Blades boss Kevin Blackwell could opt to field former Royals; Darius Henderson and James Harper in his starting eleven whilst Glen Little could make the substitutes bench.
Henderson started his professional playing career with Reading in August 1999, though he didn't make his debut until March 2000 in a 3-0 defeat at Burnley. He saw limited opportunities with the Royals and moved onto Brighton & Hove Albion on loan before completing a move to Gillingham in January 2004. In all he made just 17 (+71) appearances for the Berkshire club and scored 15 goals.
Harper joined Reading from Arsenal in February 2001 in an undisclosed fee; he scored on his debut in a 2-0 home win over Rotherham United and the following season became a pivotal player in there promotion from League One and in 2005/06 to the Premiership. He left the club after a few games played of the 2009/10 season to join Sheffield United on loan until the end of the season where he will make a permanent move.
The Chelmsford born midfielder left the Madejski Stadium having made 314 (+34) appearances and scored 26 goals in total. He made his debut for the Blades in their 1-0 away win at Derby County.
Little has enjoyed three spells at Reading, two of whom on loan, his main permanent stay occurred in July 2006 when he signed on a free transfer from Burnley - leaving to join Portsmouth in July 2008 after their relegation from the Premier League. Including his other two loans spells the Wimbledon born winger made 99 (+21) appearances and netted six goals.
Possible Blades Line-Up: Mark Bunn, Kyle Walker, Chris Morgan, Jonathan Fortune, Andy Taylor, Jamie Ward, Nick Montgomery, James Haper, Lee Williamson, Mark Yeates, Ched Evans.
The Royals were in FA Cup action last Saturday as they faced Burnley at the Madejski Stadium; it was a plump draw for the Berkshire club after claiming one of the biggest scalps in this seasons domestic cup competition having seen off Liverpool in
extra-time at Anfield.
They then added a further cup scalp by beating Premiership Burnley 1-0 last Saturday; it made a miserable day for Clarets new manager Brian Laws when Gylfi Sigurdsson found the net with three minutes remaining to score his ninth of the season.
The visitors will be without Marek Matejovsky (abdominal problems) who has been out of action since 28 December against Plymouth Argyle; good news is on the horizon with James Henry (hamstring) and Julian Kelly (dislocated shoulder) who have both returned to training.
However Chris Armstrong (knee) and Noel Hunt (also knee) are both out injured and very unlikely to return to action against the Blades. Duo Nicholas Bignall and Scott Davies are available for selection after they were both cup-tied last weekend.
Former Sheffield United Defender/Midfielder Chris Armstrong made 84 (+21) appearances for the Blades and scored six goals. He was signed by Neil Warnock in August 2003 from then troubled club Oldham Athletic in a £100,000 transfer and sold to Reading five years later.
It is also likely that Brian Howard will face his former club; the midfielder signed for the Blades initially on a two month loan before completing his move from Barnsley in January 2009. But his move to the Lane was short lived and in September 2009 saw him move to Reading on loan until the end of the season where he shall complete a full transfer. He leaves United having made 30 (+7) appearances and scoring three times.
Possible Royals Line-Up: Adam Federici, Matt Mills, Ivar Ingimarsson, Ryan Bertrand, Andy Griffin, Kalifa Cisse, Jay Tabb, Jobi McAnuff, Jem Karacan, Simon Church, Gunnar Heidar Thorvaldsson.
Blades-Mad Prediction: Sheffield United 2-1 Reading
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:: Statistics ::
For Head to Head statistics please click here.
Last 10 Games... Home & Away
2008/2009 | Fri 10 Apr | Reading | 0 - 1 | Sheff. Utd. | Championship |
Sat 15 Nov | Sheff. Utd. | 0 - 2 | Reading | Championship | |
2006/2007 | Sat 20 Jan | Reading | 3 - 1 | Sheff. Utd. | Premiership |
Sat 16 Sep | Sheff. Utd. | 1 - 2 | Reading | Premiership | |
2005/2006 | Tue 14 Feb | Sheff. Utd. | 1 - 1 | Reading | Championship |
Tue 25 Oct | Reading | 2 - 0 | Sheff. Utd. | League Cup | |
Sat 01 Oct | Reading | 2 - 1 | Sheff. Utd. | Championship | |
2004/2005 | Sat 02 Apr | Reading | 0 - 0 | Sheff. Utd. | Championship |
Sat 14 Aug | Sheff. Utd. | 0 - 1 | Reading | Championship | |
2003/2004 | Sat 28 Feb | Reading | 2 - 1 | Sheff. Utd. | League Division One |
Head to Head Statistics... | Goals | |||||
Venue | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | For | Against |
Home | 17 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 25 | 17 |
Away | 17 | 5 | 1 | 11 | 15 | 21 |
Total | 34 | 12 | 6 | 16 | 40 | 38 |