Burnley prepare for the Royals visit

It's been a bit of a special week down Harry Potts Way this week. On Tuesday we went top of the league having won at Doncaster but there was more to come.

Thursday saw Danny Ings called up by Gareth Southgate for the England under-21s, not only his first call up at that level but his first at any level, and that was capped yesterday with Sean Dyche winning, and deservedly winning, the September Manager of the Month Award for September.

Our September ended in good style with a 3-0 win against Charlton just a week ago and October started just as brightly with that Doncaster win and we now go into this game against Reading before having the second breather of the season as the international break kicks in.

Michael Kightly wanted to play for Sean Dyche

Today's game will be a tough one against a team that was last season playing in the Premier League, but such is the confidence around Turf Moor right now it is certainly not a game we should fear.

Manager Sean Dyche has constantly talked this season about our squad, or group as he prefers to call it, and how tight knit they are as a group. He's been delighted with what they've given him this season and there is no doubt it is a two way thing.

Since Tuesday's win four players have taken the opportunity to heap praise on him and his backroom team. On Tuesday night Kieran Trippier said: "As a team we are all bonding very well since day one in pre-season.

"Pre-season was a massive impact on us all. You can see the fitness levels of the team and that's played a major part in the games. Without a shadow of a doubt, if you look from when the old gaffer was here and now we are so much fitter and Scotty Arfield was running in the 91st minute like he was in the first minute. He's one of the fittest lads I've ever seen."

Sam Vokes has referred to all the help he offered him during the summer by the manager and yesterday, having won his award, Ings said: "I'm delighted for the manager getting his award because not only is he a great manager, but he's a great people's person as well.

"I get on extremely well with him and we have a good relationship and he definitely deserves it."

Dyche's last signing was the capture of Michael Kightly on a season long loan from Stoke. Kightly has played every league game since and ahead of today's game again explained his reason for joining Burnley.

"I had a few other options but after working under this manager at Watford and speaking to the lads here that I already knew, there was only one decision for me and that was purely a football decision.

"No disrespect to Burnley, there were probably a few other bigger clubs, but that wasn't the pull for me. The pull was to come here and play under this gaffer, who is arguably one of the best that I've played under, and just come and enjoy it. That's what I'm doing."

Kightly, along with Trippier, Vokes and Ings should line up for the Clarets this afternoon and we can also welcome back Dean Marney who sat out the Doncaster win serving a one match ban.

I expect Marney to come straight back in for David Edgar and we should line up: Tom Heaton, Kieran Trippier, Michael Duff, Jason Shackell, Ben Mee, Scott Arfield, Dean Marney, David Jones, Michael Kightly, Danny Ings, Sam Vokes. Subs from: Alex Cisak, Kevin Long, Danny Lafferty, David Edgar, Brian Stock, Junior Stanislas, Keith Treacy, Ryan Noble.

Reading are not too far behind us in the table. We sit top on 23 points, ahead of both QPR and Leicester on goal difference, and Reading are one of the next group of three on 19 points, alongside Nottingham Forest and Blackpool.

Having come down at the end of last season with Wigan and QPR, they have made a good start to the season and, like us, have been beaten just once. That defeat came at Blackpool in their second away game of the season, a Tom Barkhuizen goal being enough to give the Seasiders a 1-0 victory.

They'd already drawn at Bolton, and on Tuesday they also collected a point at Barnsley, but between the Blackpool defeat and the Barnsley draw they recorded two away wins at Yeovil and Derby, the win at Pride Park proving to be Nigel Clough's last home game in charge of the Rams.

Reading have reported a clean bill of health with all players available including Wayne Bridge who missed the draw at Barnsley. That is with the exception of Jem Karacan who has, this week, been ruled out long term having had knee surgery this week.

He could come straight back in and Nigel Adkins also has a decision to make on who plays up front. Adam Le Fondre and Pavel Pogrebnyak got the nod on Tuesday with latest signing Billy Sharp, a player more than once linked with Burnley, coming off the bench.

They will select from: Alex McCarthy, Chris Gunter, Stephen Kelly, Sean Morrison, Alex Pearce, Danny Guthrie, Chris Baird, Garath McCleary, Hal Robson-Kanu, Adam Le Fondre, Pavel Pogrebnyak, Adam Federici, Shaun Cummings, Kaspars Gorkss, Jordan Obita, Hope Akpan, Jobi McAnuff, Billy Sharp, Wayne Bridge, Royston Drenthe.

Last Time They Were Here

Reading won on their last visit to Turf Moor in October 2011. They won 1-0 with a goal from Jem Karacan scored in the ninth minute of stoppage time at the end of the game.

It was an afternoon when Burnley turned in a shocking performance, and although the goal came so late in the day we couldn't really have any complaints that Reading went home with all three points.

Marvin Bartley missed a first minute chance

Having said that, we started quite brightly and should have scored in the first minute of the game when Marvin Bartley was played in clear of the visiting defence, but he got his shot in too early and the chance was gone.

We did well enough for twenty minutes or so but that was it for Burnley and we were very fortunate soon after when Lee Grant pulled us out, saving from Adam Le Fondre.

Somehow we got to half time at 0-0 with hopes of an improvement but in truth the second half was considerably worse.

We managed to get to the 90 minutes with the score still showing 0-0. There had been three stoppages in the first half but referee Gibbs added on only one minute when it should have been at least five.

We'd had just one stoppage in the second half, a long one admittedly, when Jay Tabb took the force of a Grant clearance. It was between four and five minutes but everyone looked astonished as the board went up showing nine extra minutes.

Reading, sensing they could still win this one, went for it. They pushed us back and back but we survived the first eight and a half minutes. Then, just as we thought we'd got an undeserved point, shambolic defending presented Karacan with the ball, unmarked and five yards from goal. He made no mistake.

Incredibly the referee played a further four minutes, but we offered nothing and got, as Stan Ternent used to say, what we deserved - nothing.

The teams were;

Burnley: Lee Grant, Kieran Trippier, Andre Amougou, David Edgar, Brian Easton, Ross Wallace, Marvin Bartley, Chris McCann, Junior Stanislas (Keith Treacy 55), Charlie Austin, Jay Rodriguez. Subs not used: Jon Stewart, Ben Mee, Dean Marney, Zavon Hines. 

Reading: Adam Federici, Shaun Cummings, Kaspars Gorkss, Alex Pearce, Joseph Mills, Jobi McAnuff (Noel Hunt 45), Mikele Leigertwood, Jay Tabb (Jem Karacan 72), Hal Robson-Kanu, Simon Church (Mathieu Manset 81), Adam Le Fondre. Subs not used: Alex McCarthy, Ian Harte. 

Previous Games against Reading

Click HERE to see all previous results against Reading