Town come into the game on the back of a brilliant 1-1 draw away at league leaders Leeds United, knowing all three points could take them to within one point of safety.
Reading currently occupy 16th place but suffered a 3-0 loss to Brentford on Tuesday night and are without a win since the Championship restart.
Details on how to follow the 3pm kick-off at Kenilworth Road on iFollow Hatters can be found at the bottom of the page.
Nathan Jones said:
(Please note these quotes are taken from Nathan’s press conference on Thursday)
On preparations for the game: “I can’t comment on Reading, it’s another Championship game which is always very, very difficult, sometimes wounded lions are the most dangerous, or load of clichés we can say, but we’ll prepare the best we can for Reading, I’m sure Reading and Bows will do exactly the same for us and then we’ll go head to head on Saturday. But we can’t second guess anyone, all we can do is prepare ourselves and that’s at the moment what we can really focus on, as all we are doing is focusing on us and how we play, how we can approach and come out of games. That’s the main thing for us.”
On Sam Baldock and the threat Reading possess: “Good lad, really good lad. Worked with him at Brighton, they have threats, they’re a strong squad and it wasn’t long ago they were in the Premier League. I think they still have a fallout of a squad from that. It’s a big club, real good recent history, Sam I know very well, excellent player, great pro, good lad. Enjoyed working with him, gave me everything but we’ve got to make sure we’re at it because we have got threats and a squad capable of winning games as we’ve shown so now, we’ve got to win more than we lose.”
Fitness of Kazenga LuaLua: “He’s definitely closer, how close he is to playing and being available for Saturday is another thing and we will have to monitor that. He’s done a real physical session today so he’s a lot, lot better. How ready he will be is another thing but he’s that type that can come off the bench and really turn a game so look, he will prove vital. We’re hoping he will become available.
“I’m always hopeful. We believe in the work we do, not just the football work but the physical, sport science element of it so hopefully we can get him back and he will play a major part in us getting what we need.”
Luke Berry situation: “He’s fit. The only way he’s missed out is basically he’s missed a chunk of the training and the game that we played so it’s just about getting match fitness, which you only do by playing but we can’t arrange any friendlies so we will probably have to put him in at some point but he’s ready and raring to go.”
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. They have finished 20th in both seasons since that day at Wembley.
When and where?
Kick-off is 3pm at Kenilworth Road on Saturday 4th July.
Man in the middle?
The referee for tomorrow’s game is James Linington, who has taken charge of 26 matches this season, dishing out 71 yellow cards and three reds.
Played before?
The last meeting between the two sides was back in November and the Hatters had an afternoon to forget, losing 3-0 at the Madejski Stadium.
Reading are slightly ahead in the all-time head-to-head with 24 wins, whereas Town have 20 wins and the two teams have shared eight draws.
Follow the action
If you are not a season ticket or match ticket holder but you wish to purchase a match pass to watch tomorrow's game against Reading on iFollow Hatters, they are now available for £10 by clicking the image below.
