PREVIEW: READING (H)

6 May 2023

Town’s final Sky Bet Championship fixture of the 2022/23 season

- Huddersfield Town vs Reading
- 3pm kick-off on Monday 8 May 2023
- CLICK HERE to book your seat at the John Smith’s Stadium!

Our final game of the 2022/23 season sees Reading travel to the John Smith’s Stadium on Bank Holiday Monday for the 3pm kick-off.

Town secured safety with just one game to go of the 2022/23 Sky Bet Championship season and now welcome Reading to the John Smith's Stadium on Monday 8 May.

THE OPPOSITION

Due to our win over Sheffield United on the evening of Thursday 4 May, Reading were narrowly relegated to Sky Bet League One with 44 points from 45 games.

Previously Manager of Reading's B Team, Noel Hunt was appointed Interim Manager of the Royals' First Team, the team he played for from 2008 until 2013, at the beginning of April after the dismissal of Paul Ince.

ONES TO WATCH

Jeff Hendrick

The midfielder arrived at Reading on a season long loan from Premier League side Newcastle United in July 2022. Starting his professional career with Derby County in 2010, where he made over 200 appearances, Hendrick has also had experience playing for Burnley before he joined the Magpies and has since been on loan to QPR and is currently with Reading. The 31-year-old has represented the Republic of Ireland at international level at all youth levels and has made over 75 appearances for his country at senior level. This season, Hendrick has scored four goals and assisted a further goal in his 45 appearances.

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Lucas João

The experienced Sky Bet Championship striker joined Reading in August 2019 from then division rivals Sheffield Wednesday. After starting his career with Portuguese side Nacional, João went on to make a name for himself at clubs such as Sheffield Wednesday and Blackburn Rovers as well as scoring 42 goals in 115 appearances for the Royals. This season, the 6’4” striker has scored seven goals and assisted a further two goals in his 21 starts and 36 appearances.

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Yakou Méїté

The forward moved to Reading from his boyhood club PSG in the summer of 2016 and has since spent a season out on loan to French side Sochaux. Since joining the Royals, Méїté has scored 42 goals in 156 appearances, one of these coming in Reading’s last Sky Bet Championship game against Wigan Athletic where he scored in injury time to draw 1-1. This season, the forward has scored four goals and assisted three in his 16 starts and 27 appearances.

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TEAM NEWS

Town Manager Neil Warnock will provide a full update on his squad heading into the final game of the season in his next press conference.

KIT

The Terriers will be in the famous blue and white home kit as we welcome Reading to the John Smith’s Stadium for the final Sky Bet Championship game of the 2022/23 season.

Home kits are all now £20 until kick-off against the Royals on Monday 8 May 2023, so make sure you CLICK HERE to get your colours and come down to support Neil and the lads one more time, showing your Terrier Spirit!

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TICKETS

Tickets are still available for Monday’s home fixture. CLICK HERE to secure your seat at the John Smith’s Stadium and make sure the boys have as much support as possible!

STAY OFF THE PITCH

Ahead of our final home game of the season against Reading, Huddersfield Town has issued a reminder to supporters that they must always stay off the pitch.

Your passionate support is a vital part of what makes football at Huddersfield Town so special. it is completely understandable that emotions run high, particularly at this stage of the season when we are already celebrating securing our safety.

However, we must remind Town fans that, in the interests of safety and wellbeing for everyone inside our Stadium, the pitch is for players, managers and officials, while the stands are there for fans to support their team.

CLICK HERE for more information.

iFOLLOW HTAFC

If you're unable to attend the game on Monday afternoon, the match will be available to watch and listen to exclusively on iFollow HTAFC and will not be broadcast on Sky Sports or Sky Red Button.

Existing subscribers to the full streaming package will already have access to the match, with those who currently only pay for a commentary season/monthly pass having access to the audio only at present.

For those who wish to purchase a video match pass for the fixture, these are available for just £10 via iFollow, and can be secured by CLICKING HERE.

Audio Match Passes cost £2.50 per fixture and can be secured by CLICKING HERE.

Match Reports

REPORT: TOWN 2-0 READING

8 May 2023

Town finish the 2022/23 Sky Bet Championship season with three points

- Huddersfield Town 2-0 Reading
- Koroma and Hungbo score in the second half
- Town finish the Sky Bet Championship season with three points

A whirlwind of a season has finished on a high thanks to Neil Warnock and ‘Rocket’ Ronnie Jepson as they turned the team around and secured three points in the final games of the season.

Two great second half goals from Josh Koroma and Joe Hungbo secured three points in the final game of the season for Town, meaning we could finish the campaign on a high.

The first half saw both sides try to push forwards, but it was also a half of very few chances. However, our visitors had their first chance of the game off the back of a counter-attack after Jaheim Headley’s shot was palmed to safety by Coniah Boyce-Clarke, which allowed Reading to attack and sent a good cross into the box that was headed just wide of Lee Nicholls’ post.

Koroma was brought down just outside the Reading box as he dribbled the ball into the area not long after this first chance but despite the shouts from the John Smith’s Stadium, the referee pointed for a goal kick to the Royals.

Town’s first real chance in the 45 minutes came from a header from Josh Ruffels from a free-kick as his quick flick was gathered by Boyce-Clarke.

Jordan Rhodes came close to scoring due to an error between the Royals’ ‘keeper and his defender. A short pass back to the Boyce-Clarke saw Rhodes almost make contact with the ball and tap it into the back of the net, but it was dealt with before Town took the lead from close range.

Just before half time, former Terrier Naby Sarr had a chance for Reading to take the one goal advantage, but he hit the side netting from a corner ball, which saw both sides head into the second half goalless.

The second half was certainly livelier and started with a shot from half-time substitute Ben Jackson within the first minute of the restart. This shot came really quick from just outside the box but was saved by the young Reading ‘keeper.

Our Terriers scored their first goal just before the 50th minute when Koroma curled his shot into the back of the net on his second attempt. Koroma’s initial shot from just inside the box was palmed away by Boyce-Clarke only for him to pick up the ball inside the box and he fired the ball into the back of the net.

Fancying his chances, Jack Rudoni shot on a narrow angle from inside the box and although it was heading into the opposite corner at the back of the net, Sarr ran to clear the ball off the line.

The last chance of the game came in the 85th minute as Hungbo scored another curling shot from outside the box, after coming off the bench, into the opposite corner to double the Terriers’ lead. This secured the final Sky Bet Championship win of the season.

Town’s Team (4-3-2-1)
Lee Nicholls; Matty Pearson, Tom Lees (c), Michał Helik, Josh Ruffels; Jack Rudoni, David Kasumu (Jonathan Hogg, 88'), Jaheim Headley (Ben Jackson, 46'); Brahima Diarra (Joe Hungbo, 68'), Josh Koroma (Kian Harratt, 88'); Jordan Rhodes (Martyn Waghorn, 68')

Unused Subs
Tomáš Vaclík, Rarmani Edmonds-Green

Goal Scorers
Josh Koroma (49’), Joe Hungbo (85’)

Get ready for next season and CLICK HERE to find out all you need to know about our 2023/24 Huddersfield Town Season Cards!