Familiar faces and new names on show in Ipswich’s trip to Reading

Five of the last six fixtures between Reading and Ipswich Town have been decided by a single-goal margin, and all in the Royals’ favour, so Coral make Steve Clarke’s side firm 23/20 favourite for a home win on Friday night.

Berkshire outfit Reading will have to belie their mediocre start to the season in order to topple the Tractor Boys, who at 5/2 for victory, should be targeting three points that can temporarily take them top of the Championship table. A draw, meanwhile, is priced at 9/4.

Clarke has made clever loan signings to boost the Royals attack and make it more ruthless. Established internationals like Jamaica’s Garath McCleary and Wales forward Hal Robson-Kanu now have competition for places thanks to the acquisitions of Benfica’s Netherlands cap Ola John and Watford-owned Czech Republic striker Matej Vydra, who played under the coach at West Bromwich Albion.

A Reading squad that looked somewhat lightweight at the start of the season now has real strength in depth, with Clarke using his Chelsea connections to also land Brazilian prospect Lucas Piazon, 11/4 for a debut goal in this game. Peru winger Paolo Hurtado (10/3 anytime) completes the new-look Royals roster.

“I’ve now got really good options in forward areas, which perhaps is something I didn’t have before,” Clarke said in a recent interview with local radio. “I think they have all settled in really well. As a manager, I’ve chosen to make some changes to the squad, but that’s what I’m paid for.

“I will have to be clever and intelligent in how I use those resources, when to put players in, when to leave players out, find different ways of playing which can upset the opposition. When I look at the squad we’ve got now and the creativity, I think it’s a team that will create chances and score goals.”