Reading will attempt to claim a fourth consecutive victory when they travel to Edgeley Park for Tuesday's League One clash with Stockport County.
The Royals are sitting in sixth spot in the League One table, while the Hatters are four points adrift in 12th position.
Match preview
After winning promotion from the fourth tier, Stockport made a strong start to the season to take maximum points from their opening three league games.
Unfortunately for the Hatters, they have struggled to build upon that early promise, having won just one of their last nine matches in the third tier.
Stockport have had to settle for draws in six of those nine encounters, including three consecutive draws before travelling to the LNER Stadium for Saturday's meeting with Lincoln City.
Isaac Olaofe opened the scoring in the away clash, but Stockport were ultimately left with nothing to show for their efforts following goals from Ben House and Bailey Cadamarteri.
After falling to a 2-1 defeat, Stockport have now gone four games without a win since beating Shrewsbury Town at the start of the month, and they will be keen to return to winning ways in their first competitive game against Reading since recording a 5-1 home victory in March 1998.
In contrast to their hosts, Reading are currently enjoying a rich vein of form after winning five of their last six league games.
The Royals began that run of results with consecutive home victories before they fell to a narrow 2-1 loss in their away meeting with Rotherham United.
After getting back on track with a commanding win over Crawley, Reading went on to claim a 2-1 victory in last Tuesday's away clash against Exeter City.
Forward Sam Smith made it three wins on the bounce in Saturday's clash with Bristol Rovers, scoring the decisive goal in a 1-0 victory over Bristol Rovers to move his side into the playoffs on goal difference.
After sealing a fourth consecutive home win, the Royals will now head on their travels as they look to claim back-to-back away wins for the first time since November 2021.
Team News
The hosts are expected to be without the services of Will Collar, Ryan Rydel, Kyle Knoyle and Macauley Southam-Hales.
Callum Camps has missed the last three games and remains a doubt for Tuesday's contest, while Nick Powell will have to be assessed after he was forced off in the first half of Saturday's defeat.
Goalkeeper Ben Hinchliffe was brought on as a half-time substitute against Lincoln, and he is likely to be given the chance to line up between the posts against Reading.
Fraser Horsfall and Kyle Wootton were also introduced at the break, and the pair are now in contention to start Tuesday's away clash.
Meanwhile Reading boss Ruben Selles is unable to call upon long-term absentee Andy Yiadom, while Jeriel Dorsett is unlikely to be involved after missing the last six matches through injuries.
Chem Campbell is pushing for a recall after coming off the bench to play nearly half an hour in Saturday's narrow victory.
Smith will continue to offer one of Reading's main attacking threats, having scored five goals in 12 appearances this season.
Stockport County possible starting lineup:
Hinchliffe; Connolly, Horsfall, Pye; Bailey, Bate, Norwood, Touray; Barry; Wootton, Olaofe
Reading possible starting lineup:
Pereira; Craig, Mbengue, Bindon, Garcia; Elliott, Wing, Knibbs; Campbell, Ehibhatiomhan
We say: Stockport County 1-2 Reading
Reading may have won five of their last six matches, but only one of those victories took place on the road, and with that in mind, we think the Royals may have to settle for a point against a Stockport side that have drawn their previous two home matches against Northampton Town and Wigan Athletic.
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