Preview: Huddersfield Town vs. Reading

Two teams with ambitions of finishing in the top half of the Championship table will go head to head on Tuesday evening as Huddersfield Town host Reading at the John Smith's Stadium.

The Royals rose up to 13th in the table at the weekend courtesy of a shock 1-0 victory away to title challengers Ipswich Town, with Jamie Mackie's 14th-minute effort enough to seal the points at Portman Road.

The win was all the more surprising considering it came off the back of consecutive home league defeats to Leeds United and Wigan Athletic respectively, but Steve Clarke's reign has been dotted with such inconsistencies so far.

While that issue will need to be addressed if the playoffs are to be considered next season, for now they are picking up points with enough regularity to keep them a safe distance from the relegation battle.

Nine points currently separate them from the bottom three, while victory on Tuesday night could see them climb up to 11th depending on results elsewhere.

They will be pleased to be back on the road given their recent improvement away from home, winning four and drawing one of their last five away trips, including victories over Wolverhampton Wanderers, Derby County and Ipswich in their last three.

Indeed, their back-to-back league away wins have doubled their tally of victories on the road for the entire season and they are bidding for a third in a row for the first time since March-April 2014.

Clarke has no new injury concerns for the match but hinted that he could make one or two changes to keep his side fresh during a packed fixture schedule.

The Scot will still be without the injured trio of Chris Gunter, Jem Karacan and Anton Ferdinand, however, while Danny Guthrie is unlikely to be fit to start as he continues his recovery from a calf injury.

Reading have already won at the John Smith's once this season, knocking Huddersfield out of the FA Cup last month, but it was the Terriers who came out on top in the reverse league fixture between these two sides at the Madejski.

That was one of just two away wins for Huddersfield until their recent improvement on the road, but it is at home where their main problems have arisen over the past month or so.

Town have only won one of their last five home games in all competitions, following up consecutive defeats to Leeds and Wolves with a goalless draw against Cardiff City last time out.

That made it back-to-back draws for Huddersfield having held Bournemouth to a point the week before, but like Reading, they have struggled for consistency in recent weeks. Four wins, four defeats and two draws from their last 10 games have kept them a safe distance from the bottom three, but won't do much good for their chances of challenging further up the table.

Chris Powell could also make changes to his side given the quick turnaround in fixtures, but only Joel Lynch is ruled out through injury.

Huddersfield:

Recent form: WLWLDD

Possible starting lineup: Smithies; Smith, Hudson, Wallace; Scannell, Bunn, Coady, Butterfield, Robinson; Vaughan, Miller

Reading:

Form in Championship: DWWLLW Form in all competitions: WWLWLW

Possible starting lineup: Federici; Kelly, Hector, Pearce, Obita; Mackie, Williams, Chalobah, McCleary; Pogrebnyak, Blackman

Sports Mole says: 1-1