Reading v Swansea: Goals appeal at the prices

• Reading have kept two home clean sheets since August

• 8/12 Swansea away days have delivered BTTS

• Neither side impressing defensively since the break

Reading v Swansea

Tuesday December 27, 17:15

Defensive mistakes cost Reading

Reading chief Paul Ince admitted the Royals paid the price for "individual mistakes" as they suffered a 3-2 reverse against Birmingham at St Andrew's last time out. The Berkshire boys were 3-0 down at the break and a late rally proved in vain with goals from Lucas Joao and Tom Ince in the final quarter ultimately not enough to earn a share of the spoils.

All three goals conceded came via defensive blunders and Ince said his players have to learn quickly as he gave his verdict on the errors made by the Royals and the contest as a whole.

Ince said, "I don't care who you are, you can't do it. It's not like they cut us apart, we gave them three goals. We just made too many mistakes and, for the first goal, we made three in one. I'm not disappointed with the performance. We were still the better team and could have won - but it's not good enough - you can't give teams 3-0 starts at any level."

Reading could have as many as four key players back from injury for Tuesday's tussle. The Royals have enjoyed an 11-day break before the fixture at the Select Car Leasing Stadium; Naby Sarr and Tom McIntyre returned against Birmingham and now Scott Dann, Sam Hutchinson, Femi Azeez and Tom Holmes are all set to be involved in the squad.

Swansea earn unlikley point

Swansea produced an astonishing fightback to come from 3-0 down and earn a dramatic 3-3 draw at Coventry in their most recent Championship clash. The Swans were second best for long periods at the CBS Arena and fell behind on the half-hour mark, before conceding a second soon after the interval. And they were three goals down in the 54^th minute.

Following an alarmingly blunt display, the Welsh outfit threw caution to the wind with four attack-minded substitutes and pulled one back through star striker Joel Piroe. Jay Fulton then rifled home 15 minutes from time to set-up a tense finish in the East Midlands, and substitute Liam Cullen poked home late on to earn Swansea a heroic late point.

Speaking post-match, head coach Russell Martin said, "The subs who came on were outstanding. In the last half hour the willingness to run, the reaction to tough moments, the willingness to fight, was the polar opposite to the first hour. We have conceded rubbish goals and I am really hurt by the first 60 minutes. But really proud of the last half hour too."

Royals outsiders on home turf

Reading have not relished recent league meetings with Swansea. The Royals have registered just a solitary success in 16 such showdowns with the Swans (W1-D8-L7) and have failed to pick up maximum points in each of their last seven home encounters with the Welsh outfit (W0-D4-L3). Meanwhile, the last four head-to-head match-ups have produced 22 goals.

Reading 2.9215/8 remain in mid-table yet Paul Ince's side are just two points shy of the top-six. The Royals have produced their best work at their Berkshire base (W7-D1-L3), picking up eight points in four fixtures with top-half opposition (W2-D1-L1). However, the hosts' form has been patchy since the start of October, with only three triumphs in 12 (W3-D2-L7).

As tends to be the way under Russell Martin, Swansea 2.608/5 have again dominated the possession stats in the Championship this season, although the visitors have tended to fall short when taking on the league's elite. Swans have posted W4-D3-L7 against sides in 15^th and above and have regularly toiled on their travels this term (W3-D6-L3).

Goals appeal at the prices

Under 2.5 Goals 1.654/6 is heavily favoured by the market on Tuesday. The Championship is averaging only 2.45 goals per-game this season with 55% of overall fixtures featuring fewer than three goals. Yet Swansea's road trips have produced plenty of entertainment and a wager on Both Teams To Score at 1.804/5 holds plenty of appeal at the prices.

A chunky 8/12 (67%) of the Swans' away days have already delivered BTTS pay-outs as Russell Martin's men have only managed to silence bottom-three opposition Blackpool and Huddersfield. However, City have scored in all bar three of those fixtures, notching five times in their last two games as Championship guests.

Reading have fired blanks only twice on home soil this season, bagging multiple goals in five of 11 games. Even so, the Royals have recorded three clean sheets in their past 13 league outings, whilst shutting out only two visitors here since August.