Following a poor opening month of the season, Reading have got back on track of late, winning four of their last five matches.
Junior Hoilett netted the only goal of the game against his former club Cardiff City in a 1-0 win for the Royals in south Wales a fortnight ago.
It was Reading’s second clean sheet in three matches, but they still have the second-worst defence in the Championship this season having conceded 19 goals.
Veljko Paunovic praised his team’s “fantastic team spirit” against the Bluebirds and the Serbian says he is fully focussed on driving the club forward, despite rumours of an impending points deduction.
The Select Car Leasing Stadium is becoming a difficult place for teams to visit, as Reading have lost just one of their last 12 home league matches.
Barnsley travel to Berkshire with no away wins and just three points on the road all season in what has been a difficult campaign so far after defeat in the playoffs in 2020-21.
Markus Schopp succeeded West Bromwich Albion-bound Valerien Ismael in the summer, but the Tykes have just one victory from their opening 11 league games under the Austrian and are winless in their last nine matches – the club’s worst run of form in almost two years.
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The Yorkshire outfit lost for the third successive game two weeks ago, conceding in the 89th minute in a 1-0 defeat to Millwall.
Barnsley are the joint-lowest scorers in the Championship with just seven goals to their name, having drawn a blank five times so far.
The Tykes have failed to beat Reading in their last eight meetings since a 3-1 victory in 2014
