By Mark Sugar
March 15 2004

The Royals make the short journey down the M4 and over the Seven Bridge to face promotion rivals Cardiff City. Steve Coppell's side were held to a goaless draw by Stoke City on saturday and now face a difficult task against Lennie Lawrence side.They will provide very difficult opponent's.

Cardiff City Vs Reading
Tuesday,16th March 2004
Nationwide League Division 1
Ninnian Park, Cardiff
Kick Off 19:45pm

Team News
Marcus Hahnemann will definetely not play tomorrow about being ruled out for 2-4 weeks with a medial ligament injury, so Royals boss Steve Coppell has instantly recalled Jamie Ashdown back from his loan spell at Rushden & Diamonds. Jamie Young will continue as back up goalkeeper on the bench. Royals skipper Adie Williams is a doubt with a foot infection. Should he not come through the game, Ricky Newman will play in defence alongside Ivar Ingimarrson. Nicky Shorey has a toe infection but is expected to start tomorrow. Shorey has missed only 1 game all season with that being the 3-2 victory over Derby County due to suspension. Steve Brown is still suffering with a jarred knee sustained in last month's 5-1 defeat to Rotherham. He isn't expected to be fit for the visit to South Wales. Another player struggling is Kevin Watson with a calf injury. Watson has made very good progress but like Brown the Cardiff game maybe too soon. Nicky Forster is still missing with a stomach muscle injury. He shouldn't be back for at least 2 weeks. On-loan Sheffield Wednesday striker Lloyd Owusu starts a 3 match ban after his dismissal at Preston North End. He misses the clashes with Cardiff, Sunderland and Coventry before playing his last match against West Ham. Owusu's place in the starting eleven is likely to go to Dave Kitson with Dean Morgan on the bench. Joe Gamble is still on-loan at Barnet.

Former Reading target Graham Kavanagh is definetely out of the game. He misses out with a leg injury and will play no part for Cardiff for the rest of the season. Former Stoke City striker Peter Thorne is unlikely to be fit so former Rotherham striker Alan Lee will partner Wales International Robert Earnshaw. Andy Campbell was a late loss from Saturday's squad, so it's a toss up between him and Gavin Gordon for the strikers spot on the bench. Rhys Weston is doubtful. Gary Croft has recovered from injury and should start tomorrow. Richard Langley was relegated to the bench on Saturday with illness, coming on for the last 30 minutes. He's not certain to be ready for a start. Paul Parry came off early in the 2-1 victory over Norwich City. He could be missing. On a more positive front, Martyn Margetson has had his ban taken away after an appeal, so now can start the match. He was originally sent off in the defeat to Eric Black's Coventry City.

Key player for Cardiff City: Robert Earnshaw

Cardiff City Goal Scorer's:

Name	League	FA Cup	Carling Cup	Other	Total
Robert Earnshaw	19	0	5	0	24
Peter Thorne	13	0	0	0	13
Graham Kavangah	7	0	0	0	7
Richard Langley	4	0	0	0	4
Alan Lee	3	0	0	0	3
Gareth Whalley	2	0	0	0	2
Danny Gabbidon	2	0	0	0	2
Gary Groft	1	0	0	0	1
Andy Campbell	0	0	1	0	1
Gavin Gordon	1	0	0	0	1
James Collins	1	0	0	0	1
Tony Vidmar	1	0	0	0	1
Paul Parry	1	0	0	0	1

Referee: Mark Warren (West Midlands)

Form Guide
The Royals picked were held to a goalless draw by fellow promotion rivals Stoke City at the Madejski Stadium. On-loan striker Lloyd Owusu had the best chances for Reading.
The Bluebirds recorded a fantastic home win against league leaders Norwich City at Ninnian Park. Paul Parry and Robert Earnshaw scored for Cardiff.

Previous Meetings
16/09/2003 Reading 2-1 Cardiff City
26/12/2001 Cardiff City 2-2 Reading
08/09/2001 Reading 1-2 Cardiff City
25/03/2000 Reading 0-1 Cardiff City
26/12/1999 Cardiff City 1-0 Reading
09/04/1994 Reading 1-1 Cardiff City
01/01/1994 Cardiff City 3-0 Reading

Thanks to www.soccer-stats.com for the above information

Ticket and Travel News

Click here for the Ticket and Travel News for the game

Cardiff City Guide

Click here for the Cardiff City Guide

Division 1 Fixtures

Tuesday 16th March 2004

Cardiff City Vs Reading 19:45
Norwich City Vs Gillingham 19:45
Rotherham United Vs Sheffield United 19:45
Walsall Vs Ipswich Town 19:45
Watford Vs Derby County 19:45
West Bromwich Albion Vs Wigan Athletic 19:45
Sunderland Vs Stoke City 20:00

Wednesday 17th March 2004

Coventry City Vs Preston North End 19:45
Nottingham Forest Vs Burnley 19:45
West Ham United Vs Crewe Alexandra 19:45

Thanks to www.bbc.co.uk/football for the fixture list

League Table

Current League Positions		Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	For	Against	POINTS
8th	Reading	36	15	9	12	44	47	54
14th	Cardiff City	35	13	10	12	55	44	49

Anything Else
Remember to make your Prediction on the Prediction League.

BACK THE BOYS AND MAKE SOME NOISE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

COME ON URZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!