With Birmingham in real danger of dropping down to Sky Bet League One, the talk surrounding St. Andrew's since their most recent defeat has been about the future of Aitor Karanka. The Blues boss has reportedly departed the club and Lee Bowyer is lined up to be his replacement.
This has been the talk since Tuesday. At the time of writing on late Tuesday afternoon, this move has still not happened. Fans have been waiting, regularly refreshing Twitter feeds but nothing has come through the wall of silence since a 10am tweet on Sunday.
The hosts were in a bad position anyway but this behind-the-scenes drama will have only further damaged their preparations for the visit of Reading. It's a promotion hopeful against a team trying to drag themselves away from the drop - the Royals represent great value for all three points.
Ten of the Royals' wins in the Championship this season have all been by a two-goal margin or greater, while Birmingham have seen three of their last four defeats all come with at least a two goal difference. Against a struggling side with uncertainty dominating their pre-game preparation, Reading's forwards can enjoy the night.
A return to the XI for Ovie Ejaria would be welcome for this selection. The Reading man sees an average of 2.5 fouls per game against him but Michael Olise also sees 2.1. Even Omar Richards is on 1.8 and that could be interesting if he drives further up the flank.
We're not talking about a straight red offence here but the potential for two yellows given the talent on the other side. One player who has been sent off for two yellows this season is KRISTIAN PEDERSEN, and he's also worth a small stakes play given his high number of fouls in recent weeks.
The Birmingham left-back has committed at least one foul in each of his last seven outings for the club and he's seen 12 multi-foul games during the course of the campaign - a run that includes the last game against Reading.
The Royals look great value to win again here but it's worth taking them on the -1 handicap to make the odds even better, that being in a game where COLIN or PEDERSEN could catch the referee's attention.
Score prediction: Birmingham 0-2 Reading ()
Odds correct at 1730 GMT (16/03/21)
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