Wanderers face-off against Berkshire-based rivals this Saturday at Adams Park, kicking off at 3pm, in what could be an interesting clash between two sides who are battling for promotion places, Wycombe currently sitting at first in the league while The Royals sit closely behind in sixth, nine points off the top.
Reading are currently in impressive form, unbeaten in four of their last five matches, including a 3-0 win against Cambridge United, in which former Chairboy, Lewis Wing, scored two impressive goals. Now sitting just behind Stockport, level on points having played a game less.
Meanwhile, Wycombe have won four of their last five matches, having gone on an eleven game winning streak which unfortunately came to an end on Tuesday night with a 2-2 draw against Exeter City, a notorious ‘bogey’ team for Wanderers, having not won a game at St James’ Park in the south-west of England since 2017. However, positives were taken from the game, including Wycombe’s refusal to give up, having gone two goals down after only 22 minutes, they pulled one back through Joe Low only five minutes after the home side doubled their lead, and eventually levelling the scoreline through a fantastic shot from Cam Humphries which found the bottom corner. The Buckinghamshire blues’ remain at the top of League One, two points above Wrexham and three points above Birmingham, the only teams that have beaten Wycombe in the League so far this season.
Reading’s return to Adams Park also sees the return of two players who spent some time in the light-dark blue quarters, both Lewis Wing and Chem Campbell, the Wolves-loanee making eight appearances but not scoring for the Chairboys, while he has made 12 appearances for Reading and scored three goals.
Lewis Wing has proved to be a controversial figure in the eyes of many Chairboys fans, having refused to sign a new contract, seeking ‘bigger opportunities’, before signing for Reading in 2023 and scoring against Wycombe in this fixture last season. He made 57 appearances for Wycombe and scored 11, meanwhile he made 59 appearances and scored three more goals (14).
When Wanderers were visited by Reading last season, it ended in a 2-1 victory for the visitors, goals scored by Lewis Wing and Sam Smith. However, Wycombe won the reverse fixture by the same scoreline.
It is set to be the biggest League attendance of the season so far, one of the games that fans look for at the start of each season when fixtures are announced, and the atmosphere in and around Adams Park this Saturday will be nothing short of electric, with the away allocation sold out too.
The departure of Reading manager, Ruben Selles, will be nothing short of devastating for Reading players, staff and fans, having a good start to the season overall, despite factors off the pitch regarding The Royal’s ownership situation. His leave to EFL Championship strugglers, Hull City will almost definitely negatively affect the players’ morale going into Saturday’s League One fixture and for the rest of the season. The January transfer window will also be an interesting time for Reading fans as the new Hull manager may want to be bring players he’s already familiar with up north with him. Crucial players such as Lewis Wing, Sam Smith and Tyler Bindon may depart alongside the manager depending on the way Reading’s season goes following the Spanish manager’s withdrawl from the Berkshire-based football club.
