Reading travel to Ashton Gate in Bristol to face a Bristol City side in desperate need of three points at the base of the WSL table.
Matt Beard who is in temporary charge of the Robins while Tanya Oxtoby is on maternity leave will need to rally his troops in order to move off the bottom of the table for the first time this season with a victory.
Reading and Kelly Chambers will be looking to act revenge on the Robins however after feeling hard done by with a point in the earlier encounter between the sides.
With this being the first game of the season at Ashton Gate, a 27,000-capacity stadium, the Royals will be hoping to use the advantage of playing in this size stadium. They play all their home games at the 24,000 Madejski Stadium while Bristol have been operating at the 3,500 Twerton Park in Bath. A different type of playing surface may alter Matt Beard’s approach to the fixture.
Reading’s Lily Woodham and Ga-Eul Jeon will hope to face their former side while it will be a first return to Bristol for Jess Fishlock since leaving the City after her second spell in 2012. Angharad James and Natasha Harding have also had spells with Bristol in the past while Royals academy product Kiera Skeels is currently on loan at Bristol City from the Berkshire side!
LAST TIME THEY MET
It was a 1-1 draw earlier this season at Madejski Stadium in a rare occasion where fans were able to attend the fixture! Emma Bissell opened the scoring for the Vixens before Fara Williams equalised for the Royals. The points were shared with both teams having chances to win the game. Reading recorded 33 shots that day and completed 488 passes while Bristol had 10 and 217 respectively.
TEAM NEWS
Reading will be monitoring the fitness of both Ga-eul Jeon and Fara Williams who have returned to training after being long-term absentees. Both are expected to miss the remainder of the season however. Brooke Chaplen is another long-term absentee who again is likely to miss out although has returned to light training. Youngster Emma Harries was absent from the last matchday squad but is expected to return to the matchday reckoning. Silvana Flores will be looking to make her Royals debut while Angharad James is still available for selection after confirming a move to NC Courage on the expiration of her current contract.
Bristol City will be without captain Jasmine Matthews after she underwent surgery this week. Megan Wynne is a long-term absentee with an ACL injury while Meaghan Sargeant is also out with a similar problem. Reading loanee Kiera Skeels is unlikely to be able to face her parent club unless a clause similar to Arsenal’s Ruby Mace at Birmingham has been included giving Skeels permission to play.
TIME: 20:15 Monday 8th March, Ashton Gate, Bristol.
(Available to watch on BT Sport for UK audiences and FA Player for international viewing)
Below we take a look at the players who could have a big impact on this game:
ONE TO WATCH: EBONY SALMON (FW) – POINTS 62 (£25,000)
Off the back of a recent England call-up, her first in the senior game, Ebony Salmon will be looking to make an impression. The striker will have the chance to impress in front of the TV cameras at the home of Bristol City. Her speed, agility and power could pose a huge threat for a leaky Royals defence.
ONE TO WATCH – JESS FISHLOCK (MF) – POINTS 116 (£60,000)
The Royals midfielder will make her return to Bristol at Ashton Gate. Since leaving in 2012, Fishlock has been on a world tour of clubs but will relish her return to the City where she got her first professional break. With the game moved from Bath to Bristol and live on TV, all the pre-match hype will be on the OL Reign loanee. She loves the big occasions, and this could work perfectly into her hands. She opened her Royals account with a brace at Brighton, the last time that the BT Sport cameras were in Royals presence.
Written by Ben Waite (Follow on Twitter at @etiawneb for regular WSL updates!)
*Please note, all injury information we have may not be 100% accurate
You can view and updated absence list here and an updated transfer list here.