With just eight games left of the League One season, Reading sit three places and five points above the relegation zone. In and around the drop zone is tight, so points are more valuable than ever to those at both ends of the table. Each game from now until the end of the season will be a ‘cup final' for the Royals.
The first ‘cup final’ comes this Saturday at the Select Car Leasing Stadium where Reading welcome fellow strugglers, Cambridge United. The U’s come into the game winless in their last six games and off the back of a 6-0 loss to Lincoln City in midweek. However, the Cambridgeshire-side did win the reverse fixture 1-0 thanks to a late Fejiri Okenabirhie goal. Both teams currently sit on 39 points, so the game does have the making of a relegation 6-pointer, even this early in the run-in.
On Good Friday, 12th-placed Northampton Town travel to the Berkshire. The Cobblers will not have much to play for, with their chances of a late promotion push or relegation scare being minuscule. The game at the Sixfields Stadium earlier in the season ended 3-1 to Northampton, leaving both sides on 10 points after nine games.
Easter Monday brings around a tougher test for the Royals as they travel to the Toughsheet Community Stadium to face Bolton Wanderers. Reading came out victorious in the reverse fixture with goals from Charlie Savage and Caylan Vickers cancelling out Dion Charles’ opening strike. The away game for Selles’ side will not be much easier as Bolton’s home record is second-best in the league only behind Portsmouth.
The penultimate home game of the campaign comes on the first Saturday in April when Lincoln City make the trip to the royal county. The Imps are one of the most in-form teams in the league at the moment and have not suffered defeat since the first day of 2024. Reading managed to earn a 1-1 draw at the LNER Stadium earlier in the season with Harvey Knibbs’ equaliser securing the point.
Three successive home games take Reading to the last game of the season, the first of those come against Bristol Rovers. The game should have been played on the 23rd of March, but international call-ups meant it was postponed and moved to a new date of April the 9th. Earlier in the season, the two sides played out a 1-1 draw as Sam Smith’s opener was cancelled out by former Royal Chris Martin.
The second of the three comes in the form of a trip to Oakwell where Barnsley will welcome Ruben Selles’ side. In the 2020/21 season both sides were pushing for playoffs in the Championship, The Tykes were relegated a season later and are on the edge of getting back to the Championship for the first time since. The game ended 3-1 to Barnsley earlier in the season with late goals from Devante Cole and Max Watters turning the game around.
The final away game of the season takes the Royals to the Pirelli Stadium to face Burton Albion. Both teams are currently in the relegation battle and will likely be in a similar position when this game kicks off on April 20th. The reverse fixture ended in a 0-0 bore draw, despite a dominant performance from the Berkshire-side.
Reading close out the season with Blackpool visiting the Select Car Leasing Stadium. The Tangerines may well be battling for the playoffs even on the last day of the season, as they currently sit one place behind sixth-place Stevenage. Blackpool dominated the first game between the two sides this season, winning 4-1 with veteran striker Jordan Rhodes grabbing a hat-trick. Given the position of both teams at the moment, this game could be crucial for both sides at opposite ends of the table.
In the past five seasons, 50 points has been enough to survive relegation from League One meaning 11 points from the last eight should be enough to see the Royals survive. As many as 13 teams could finish on or below that 50-point mark so the fight for survival is still alive, and with two teams in the relegation zone having games in hand any of those could get dragged into the mix.