McCarthy: Reading Squad Fantastic Friday, 11th Sep 2015 06:00 Town boss Mick McCarthy says Reading have a “fantastic squad” and admits he was surprised that their 3-1 win at Brentford before the international break was their first Championship victory this season. The third-placed Blues would return to the top of the table if they beat the Royals at the Madejski Stadium this evening (Sky Sports 5 from 7pm, KO 8pm). “They’ve a fantastic squad, absolutely,” McCarthy said. “They took Matej Vydra [on loan from Watford], who has been outstanding at Championship level. “They’ve still got Garath McCleary, they’ve got Nick Blackman up front, Orlando Sa, Danny Williams, who I really like, the American international. “They took Stephen Quinn and Paul McShane from Hull City, two really experienced, good solid players. Chris Gunter at right-back plays for Wales. “They sold Michael Hector to Chelsea for £5 million and took him back on loan. They’ve Jordan Obita on the left. They’ve a really good squad of players. “It’s a surprise to see that the first game they’d won was when they beat Brentford 3-1. It could have been more. It could have been six. “It was a mauling, they played really well. I’m hoping it was Brentford that played badly, not that Reading are as good as they were on the day.” Steve Clarke took over as Royals boss last December but the Berkshire side failed to make much of an impact during 2014/15 and finished 19th. Although their start to this season, three draws and one loss in addition to the win against the Bees, sees them sitting 13th, McCarthy feels Clarke’s squad are starting to get to grips with what he’s trying to get them to do. “I’d like to think so if that was me, so I’d have to say yes, I think that’s the case with Steve,” he continued. “His credentials are good and you’d wonder why they didn’t do as well as everybody expected them to. “I don’t know if there was that fallout from coming down from the Premier League, whenever it was, it seems like a long time ago now [2012/13]. “I can judge them on what I’ve seen so far. I know they’ve got good players, a really good squad of players and with what he’s added they’re going to be a threat, I think, and it’s going to be a tough game on Friday night.” Reflecting on his own team’s first five games of the Championship campaign, he added: “We’ve had a good start to the season, bearing in mind we did lose the last game. “But last season at this stage we had five points and were out of the Capital One Cup and nobody was particularly optimistic about the season. “There wasn’t a great feel around the place. This season, we’ve got 10 points, twice the points, and we’ve got a great tie against Manchester United to look forward to in the Capital One Cup, so that’s progress. [Let’s hope] we can continue that progress each month. It’s a good start but that’s all it is. “But we’ve enjoyed it. We didn’t enjoy getting beaten in our last game but two points a game, if we can continue that, that’s promotion form.” He says the international break came at a good point in the campaign with a number of players having been out with injuries: “It’s enabled me to get my players back fit. We lost that last game without Christophe Berra, without Daryl Murphy, without Teddy Bishop, without Kevin Bru. “We had a few big players that were missing for us. It’s great to have them back fit. I’ve got Teddy Bishop and Kevin Bru, who won’t be travelling on Friday for our game, but they’ll play on Monday in the U21s. “They are fit, they are training, just not match fit, they need some more minutes in them. So, it’s been a great time for the break, actually. Hopefully we can start again with a win. “When we don’t have Daryl Murphy and we don’t have Teddy Bishop and we don’t have Kevin Bru, we don’t have Christophe Berra, you take a big chunk of the team. “If that had been last season and I’d have been missing those players, we would have really struggled. As it happened, we didn’t struggle, we got beaten [3-2 by Brighton] but it was a helluva game. It’s lovely to have them back.” He added: “Having had seven games in 21 days, they were in on Tuesday and Wednesday [of last week], then they had Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday off to rest and recuperate. Hopefully that will have got shot of little niggles, little tight muscles. “It would have been nice for Didz and Murph to have been involved with the Irish team who had two good results and looks like giving them a really good chance of qualifying or certainly getting that third spot. But both of them were injured. “The two of them were away in the summer, the two of them maybe got injured because of workload. I’m not bemoaning that, that’s what we do, but nevertheless if they get a chance to rest I think it’s a good opportunity. “We’re back in now and we’re playing Friday, Tuesday, Friday, Wednesday, Saturday. It’s a really hectic schedule, so I think that when you get any chance to give them some rest and a bit of family time, that’s what I do. Then we were all back in on Monday and we’ve been here all week.” Having been in such good form, was it a surprise to lose to Brighton before the break? “Not really when they opposition plays as well as Brighton did because I thought they were excellent. It can’t always be that we played badly. “I’ve a young right-back, who just got caught out, Josh Emmanuel, playing against a winger [Kazenga LuaLua] who on his day could be one of the best in the league, and he scored a great goal. “Had we scored it, we’d be waxing lyrical about it, but because it was the opposition we always have to pick the spots off it. It was a great delivery for the second, but we had a fabulous response. “We will lose some more games, get used to it. Well, you never get used to it, you never like it, but it’s what you end up with in May that will count. And our progress has been terrific - 10 points, still in the cup and if we can end this month with a similar amount [of points we took from last month], we’ll be doing fantastic.” McCarthy is pleased to have Berra back with the Blues having dropped points in the two Championship games the Scotland international has missed this season. “He’s an outstanding defender. Whether we would have won with him in the team, who knows, but I’m delighted to have him back fit because he’s a huge presence in that defence.” And the Town manager is pleased to have Daryl Murphy available again after last season’s 27-goal top scorer’s two-league game absence with a calf problem. “I’d like him fit all the time, but there are three other strikers that would like to be in the team,” McCarthy continued. “And while Murph brings something different to it I think each and every one of them does.” The Blues boss refused to be drawn on which of his keepers would start, Dean Gerken having played the last two Championship games after Bartosz Bialkowski returned to Poland to be with his dying father ahead of the Preston match. McCarthy has tended to stay loyal to whoever the incumbent keeper has been but both lost their place through situations unrelated to form. “There’s loyalty both ways,” he reflected. “Bart lost his place through very sad circumstances. But, and they weren’t the same circumstances, but somebody who gets knocked out after one minute having been playing outstandingly well [as Gerken was at Middlesbrough last season], they’re not particularly good circumstances either, especially when his wife was at home having just had a baby and she sees him coming off. “So they were really sad circumstances for both of them. I’ll let you know when you see the teamsheet!” Having been the first choice at the start of the season, Bialkowski may well start this evening with Gerken dropping to the bench. Berra seems certain to rejoin Tommy Smith at the heart of the defence with skipper Luke Chambers moving to right-back. Jonas Knudsen will be on the left. In midfield, with Bru and Bishop not involved, Cole Skuse again seems set to be partnered by Jonathan Douglas with Ryan Fraser on the left and Ainsley Maitland-Niles on the right. Up front, McCarthy faces his usual tough decision to pick two from four, but Murphy could come back into the team alongside either McGoldrick or Freddie Sears. The two strikers on the bench may well start at Leeds on Tuesday or at home to Birmingham next Friday. New signing Tommy Oar will be in the squad which travels and could be handed a place amongst the subs. Reading boss Steve Clarke says Town will be tough opposition as his side look to claim their first victory at the Madejski Stadium this season, having won just one of their last 11 on home territory in the league. “Ipswich were a team that were up there all of last year, they got into the play-off places and stayed there, a lot of people doubted they would stay there but Mick’s teams have always got a good resolve about them,” he told the Royals official website. “They’re always hard to play against and always difficult games, I don’t think Friday night will be any different, I think it will be a big challenge for us to get our first home win of the season.” Clarke says his recent loan additions are looking forward to getting into action against the Blues. “The new boys are settling in very well and have settled quickly, they’ve joined in with sessions straight away,” he added. “Ola John, Matej Vydra and Lucas Piazon are all in a good state of fitness, fitted in well and I think they’ve enjoyed the training they’ve had. They’re all looking forward to their first game. “It’s going to be difficult for me to make some decisions, I’ve got a lot of players now, especially in forward areas, so there is great competition for places. “That’s something that I will have to be quite clever and intelligent with, not to make too many changes at one time and not disrupt the balance or the rhythm of the team which has been good up until now. “I’ll look to integrate one or two into the team over the course of the next few weeks. In the Championship there are a lot of games coming up. There is never a week when you look and think there’s a clear week, because there is always a midweek game and we will look to utilise the squad as much as we can.” Clarke is expected to hand Vydra his debut, while Piazon and John are also set to be in the squad. Centre-half McShane could miss out, due to a back injury, while striker Dominic Samuel is sidelined with a knee problem. Defender Hector and midfielder Williams are amongst a number of players whose condition will be assessed prior to the game having been away on international duty. Town have just about had the better of the Royals historically, winning 23 times (22 in the league), drawing nine (nine) and losing 21 (21). The teams last met at Portman Road in February when Jamie Mackie’s 14th minute goal was the difference between the sides as Reading defeated the Blues 1-0. The Scotland international was given time to shoot from 25 yards and his effort just crept inside the post, while the Blues never really looked like getting back on terms. At the Madejski Stadium in the second league game of last season Reading midfielder Jake Taylor’s first-half goal was enough to see his side to a 1-0 victory. Taylor seized on a McGoldrick error in the 26th minute, with Tyrone Mings going closest for Town when he hit the bar with a header in injury time. Reading have won the last four games between the teams at the Madejski Stadium. Town have scored exactly two goals in their last seven regular Championship games, equalling the two longest sequences of scoring precisely the same number of goals. In 1994/95 the Blues failed to score for seven successive Premier League games and last season Town netted once in seven Championship matches in a row. The last time Town scored two or more goals for seven successive matches was under Bobby Robson in 1978/79. Prior to that, under Alf Ramsey in the 1961/62 First Division championship season, the Blues notched two or more goals in 11 matches in a row. Jay Tabb joined Town in the summer of 2013 having been released by the Royals at the end of the previous season following a loan spell at Portman Road. He had been at the Madejski Stadium for four and a half years, during which time he helped them to the 2011/12 Championship-winning squad. Recently signed keeper Jonathan Henly came through the Reading youth ranks before being released in the summer without making a senior appearance. Tonight’s referee is Roger East from Wiltshire, who has shown seven yellow cards and one red in his two games so far this season. East’s most recent Town match was the play-off semi-final second leg against Norwich at Carrow Road in which Christophe Berra was red-carded and Cole Skuse and one Canary were both booked. Prior to that, he was in charge of the 2-2 draw at Birmingham in August 2014 in which he cautioned only one home player. Town squad from: Bialkowski, Gerken, Chambers (c), Emmanuel, Knudsen, Kenlock, Berra, Smith, Malarczyk, Skuse, Douglas, Coke, Tabb, Maitland-Niles, Fraser, Touré, Oar, Murphy, McGoldrick, Sears, Pitman.
Photo: Action Images Please report offensive, libellous or inappropriate posts by using the links provided.
You need to login in order to post your comments |
   Blogs 295 bloggersIpswich Town Polls[ Vote here ] |
By continuing to use the site, you agree to our use of cookies and to abide by our Terms and Conditions.We in turn value your personal details in accordance with our Privacy Policy.
