Southgate Men will travel to Sonning Lane once again facing a crunch game against newly promoted Reading.
The Todd Williams coached side are currently sat on 10 points in 8th place with a faint sniff of a top 6 berth and will be eyeing the game on Saturday and the following weekend against East Grinstead. Last weekend they ended up 4-3 winners in a tight contest against Cardiff which saw Ben Hooper scoring a hat-trick within 41 minutes. Cardiff rallied but the scoreline might suggest the game closer than it was.
Meanwhile Southgate come to this game off the back of a 0-3 loss to 2nd placed Wimbledon where the side showed resilience and character but also their lack of confidence in front of goal. Wimbledon will rue the goals chalked off by the umpires and Southgate the missed chances in front of goal- but nevertheless come to this Reading game knowing that a win would lift them up further from the drop zone and that Reading are a team that are in their reach.
The preseason game saw Southgate come away with a convincing win- yet Todd Williams has successfully recruited and seen wins against Beeston, Brooklands and Cardiff and something of a shock point against the in form Hampstead & Westminster side on away soil on the 4th October with Ben Hooper and skipper Michael Chapman on the scoresheet on that occasion.
Huw Stevens Southgate side has seen Rob Shearer injured with a fractured rib – but returning from injury he has both Max Hendry and Xavier Guy. The side kooks strong and although the squad is carrying the usual tweaks and niggles have trained well and travel to Reading with confidence.
Sonning Lane is never any easy place to travel to, and there is much riding on the game- the question is whether the side can build on the positives from last week and find their radar in front of goal to bring back 3 big points back to the Gate ahead of taking on league leaders Surbiton next weekend.