It marks Luton’s first game of 2021 following the postponement of last weekend’s Sky Bet Championship fixture against Queens Park Rangers, whilst the Royals made a successful start to the year with a 2-1 victory over Huddersfield Town in their last outing.
Nathan Jones said:
(You can watch Nathan’s pre-Reading press conference on iFollow Hatters by clicking here)
On the FA Cup: “I like it, it’s a competition you remember, growing up in our era, without the 40 live games a week that you can now watch, there was only one real live game on per year, the FA Cup final and then you always looked forward to that when you started out.
“I remember being at Cardiff City, I remember being at Merthyr and the first thing you look at is that first round draw and then can you get to that third round draw when the big boys come in, can you get that draw?
“I’ve had some decent draws, Newcastle was the big draw when I was here, Tottenham when I was a player, so the FA Cup’s a wonderful, wonderful competition and we do look forward to it.”
Who?
Holder of the Football League’s highest points tally when they won the Championship in the 2005/06 season with 106 points, Reading had two spells in the Premier League, one for two seasons and another for a single campaign.
In 2016/17, the Royals finished third in the Championship but lost in the play-off final to Huddersfield Town on penalties.
When and where?
Kick-off is midday at Kenilworth Road on Saturday 9 January.
Man in the middle?
The referee for Saturday’s fixture is Darren Bond – who last took charge of the Hatters in the final day victory against Blackburn Rovers last season.
Played before?
The two sides met in the EFL Cup this season and the Hatters were 1-0 winners thanks to Jordan Clark’s header.
Most recently, the Royals were 2-1 victors on Boxing Day despite Kazenga LuaLua’s late goal.
Follow the action
We would like to remind supporters that Saturday’s Emirates FA Cup third round tie against Reading at Kenilworth Road will kick-off at midday as a result of its selection for live broadcast on BT Sport Extra 6.
Unfortunately, this is the only platform on which supporters will be able to watch tomorrow’s match and you will need a BT Sport subscription to do so.
To access Extra, BT subscribers can simply press the red button on their remote (Sky platforms) or switch to BT Sport Extra on channel 527 (on BT TV).
As a result of this being an FA Cup match, iFollow Hatters will be AUDIO commentary only. If you are a subscriber to iFollow, this comes as part of your package, but does not include season ticket holders.
Any other supporters wishing to listen can purchase an audio match pass for £2.50 by clicking HERE.
We would like to make supporters aware that commentary for this match will be provided by BBC Three Counties Radio’s Simon Oxley, as a result of our club commentator Simon Pitts having to self-isolate after coming into close contact with an individual away from the club who tested positive for Covid-19.
We can happily report that Simon himself is fighting fit – apart from his understandable disappointment at having to miss his first game in almost four years – and is following the government guidelines, as everyone associated with the club has done when cases have arisen.
As always, you can follow the regular updates via the club’s official Twitter account - @LutonTown – and the live ‘MATCH CENTRE’ on this website as the Hatters aim to make it two wins from two against Reading in cup competitions this season.
