All the early Reading FC team news ahead of big Barnsley clash on Saturday

Reading FC face a huge fixture this weekend, with the Royals squaring up against relegation rivals Barnsley – and if they can seal the points in that game, it could go a long way towards keeping them in the division.

The Royals have had a torrid season that has seen them fall down the league table and deducted points. They are now in 21st place and are still desperately embroiled in a battle to avoid the drop down to League One despite being up near the play-offs last time around.

It led to Veljko Paunovic losing his job despite the success he had last year and whilst Paul Ince has seen a slight upturn in fortune since taking the job on a temporary basis, they are still not entirely clear of the bottom three just yet.

With Barnsley the team just below them in the division, the Tykes winning this fixture at the weekend would put huge pressure on Reading – and they therefore need to win this game as a matter of importance.

So what is the early team news ahead of the match for the Royals?

The bad news for the club is that they will be without two players not only for this game but for the remainder of the campaign, as reported by the Reading Chronicle. Both Yakou Meite and Andy Rinomhota are now crocked and will not be able to feature for the side going forward.

Meite hasn’t had a huge impact this season, making just two starts for them in the league this season, but he is still a valuable option to have in the squad and potentially off the bench too.

Rinomhota has played more of a key role with 20 league games to his name and that will certainly be more of a blow in the centre of the field for the club.

Reading do though have other players available to fill the void in the midfield – and they’ll be hoping that they have