Reading vs Nottingham Forest preview - Clarke to shuffle his pack

Posted Friday, February 27, 2015 by PA

Reading boss Steve Clarke is expected to make a host of changes once again when Nottingham Forest visit the Madejski Stadium.

Clarke made six alterations in midweek as he tried to prevent fatigue in his squad for the trek to Huddersfield days after another long journey to Ipswich.

Clarke kept the same defence and goalkeeper for both games but changed the rest and saw his side beaten 3-0 by Chris Powell's Terriers.

Nathaniel Chalobah, Hal Robson-Kanu, Jamie Mackie, Pavel Progrebnyak, Danny Williams and Simon Cox could all be reinstated, while Chris Gunter returned from his ankle injury to the bench in midweek and is pushing for a first appearance in over a month.

Forest manager Dougie Freedman insists he has no new injury problems following the midweek win over Bournemouth, despite being forced into several substitutions on Wednesday night.

Michail Antonio, Chris Burke and Danny Fox all looked to be struggling against the Cherries, with Antonio and Burke both substituted.

But Freedman said: "It's a tough division, gruelling on the body and on the mind as well, and I don't think it was injuries, I think it's complete exhaustion. They just put their bodies on the line and that's where we got the victory."

It remains to be seen whether fatigue will prevent Freedman from naming an unchanged starting line-up for the third game in a row, following back-to-back victories. Defenders Michael Mancienne and Kelvin Wilson, strikers Matty Fryatt and Lars Veldwijk and winger Jamie Paterson are options should the Reds boss wish to freshen things up.