Preview: Coventry City vs. Reading - prediction, team news, lineups

Reading face Coventry City at St Andrew's on Friday evening looking to strengthen their grip of first position in the Championship standings.

After half-a-dozen matches without success, the Sky Blues are looking for the win which would put some distance between themselves and the relegation zone.

Match preview

While many Reading supporters would have had considerable doubts regarding the appointment of Veljko Paunovic during the summer, those concerns are no longer present after a remarkable start to the season for the Royals.

Seven wins and one draw from eight contests have taken Reading clear of the chasing pack, who have struggled to put together a consistent run of victories.

Paunovic will stress that it remains early days, but it will be difficult for the club's fans to not get carried away if they extend their unbeaten streak over the coming weeks.

Tuesday's 4-2 triumph away at Blackburn Rovers was more stressful than Paunovic would have liked, although the Serbian went on to claim that his side delivered the "complete" performance at Ewood Park.

That is not strictly true given that Reading conceded more goals against Blackburn than they did in their previous seven fixtures, but a fast start and strong finish to the game ultimately did for their free-scoring opponents.

As far as Coventry are concerned, this match has come at the wrong time for Mark Robins and his squad after successive defeats to Blackburn and Middlesbrough.

Although last year's League One champions started the campaign in solid fashion, just two points have been recorded since the second week of the campaign.

Over 250 minutes have passed since they last found the back of the net, and shipping two late goals at a no-thrills Middlesbrough on Tuesday evening will leave them low in confidence ahead of welcoming the frontrunners.

Despite Matt Godden having three strikes to his name for the season, the forward has now not found the back of the net in four outings.

Coventry City Championship form: DLLDLL

Reading Championship form: WWDWWW

Team News

Robins is likely to make a number of changes to his Coventry XI after their latest setback at Middlesbrough.

Fankaty Dabo, Liam Kelly, Callum O'Hare and Tyler Walker are all pushing for recalls to the side.

Forward Maxime Biamou may also be provided with his first start of the season in place of Godden.

Paunovic is hopeful of having Ovie Ejaria back in contention after the midfielder missed the trip to Blackburn through muscle fatigue.

Providing that Yakou Meite shakes off a knock to his ankle, Paunovic could name an unchanged starting lineup.

Coventry City possible starting lineup: Marosi; Ostigard, McFadzean, Hyam; Dabo, Hamer, Kelly, Giles; Walker, O'Hare; Godden

Reading possible starting lineup: Cabral; Esteves, Morrison, Moore, Richards; Rinomhota, Laurent; Meite, Semedo, Olise; Joao

We say: Coventry City 0-2 Reading

With every win Reading record in the Championship, expectation levels will rise at the Madejski Stadium. However, we are backing the Royals to make light work of the Sky Blues, who may struggle to find a balance between defence and attack during this encounter.

Top betting tip

Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting an away win in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.Away Win:data