Baggies battle next up

Our preview of this weekend's trip to The Hawthorns

The Royals travel to the Hawthorns this Saturday (3pm kick-off) to take on high-flyers West Bromwich Albion in our penultimate away fixture of 2021.

After picking up their first in seven last weekend, the Baggies will be looking to put a run together to apply pressure to the top two over a busy festive period - standing in their way, the Royals who will be looking to build on Saturday's point at home to Hull.

A win for Veljko Paunovic's side would see them record back-to-back wins on the road, making it three unbeaten going into our anniversary fixture against Luton in a week's time.

Face coverings required

All supporters aged 11 and over must wear a face covering while in an indoor setting at The Hawthorns this Saturday.

Tickets

Subject to availability, Royals supporters will be able to buy tickets for our trip to the Hawthorns until they go off sale at 12pm on Friday 10 December.

We have been given a full allocation of 2,000 for our meeting with the Baggies - and the postage deadline for tickets is 3pm on Thursday 9 December.

West Bromwich Albion have also confirmed they will be selling what remains of our allocation from their East Stand ticket office to Royals fans on the day for no price increase.

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The opposition

Since Valerien Ismael's arrival from Barnsley in the summer, the Baggies have been in and amongst it at the top of the table, and currently sit third, six points shy of the top two.

Last time out, our Hawthorns hosts ran out victors in their Midlands derby against Coventry City. A Kyle McFadzean own-goal coupled with a Karlan Grant opener helped Ismael's men to three points over the Sky Blues.

Prior to their Coventry win, Albion were winless in their last six, experiencing a sticky patch following a blistering start to the campaign under the German, who took his former side the Tykes to the play-offs last season.

The Baggies had previously laboured to back-to-back 0-0 draws, and they'll be hoping last weekend's win will inspire them to a similar result against the Royals.

One to watch: Karlan Grant

Since signing with the Baggies in the Premier League last season, Grant has been the popular choice up top at the Hawthorns, and the 24-year-old London-born forward is really proving his worth this season.

After netting 19 times in the Championship for Huddersfield in 2019-20, Grant is back in the second tier and has already scored nine times in 21 games this season.

After agreeing a six-year contract with the Albion, Grant has scored vital goals in wins over Bristol City, Hull City and Birmingham City, as well as the opener in Saturday's triumph over Coventry.

The 6ft former-Charlton Athletic youngster, who has represented England at youth level, rose through the ranks at The Valley, via loan stints with both Cambridge United and Crawley Town.

Head-to-head

The Royals have won just three of their last eight meetings in all competitions with the Baggies, and will be looking to break a run of four without a win against Saturday's hosts this weekend.

Reading last beat West Brom back in February 2016, when the Baggies visited RG2 for an FA Cup Fifth Round clash. Goals from Paul McShane, Lucas Piazon and Michael Hector helped the home side to a 3-1 win on the night. 

The two sides haven't met for almost two years, and last did battle in February 2020. The Baggies ran out 2-1 winners - George Puscas the scorer of the Royals strike from the spot.

We have locked horns on 44 occasions since 1927 - the Royals have taken the spoils on 13 occasions, playing out a further 11 draws.

Ref watch

David Webb will take charge of our Hawthorns contest this weekend.

The last time oversaw a Royals fixture was back in August, when we visited Coventry City. 

Geoffrey Liddle and Matthew McGrath will be assistants on the day, with the fourth official position to be occupied by Darren Drysdale.

So far this campaign, Webb has shown 68 yellow cards and one red in his 16 games to date.