Matt Taylor has offered plenty of praise in the direction of Reading ahead of leading his Bristol Rovers side for the short trip up the M4 on Saturday for a lunchtime kick-off at the Select Car Leasing Stadium.
The Gas go into the trip to Berkshire looking to build on their recent run of three wins in four league games having secured a 1-0 victory at home to Shrewsbury Town on Tuesday night.
Meanwhile, the Royals are seventh in League One having picked up an impressive 2-1 win away at high-flying Exeter City in midweek as well as boasting a near-perfect home record so far this term with a defeat to Leyton Orient the only anomaly. However, although Ruben Selles’ side have a game in hand, only three points currently separate the two teams with Reading outside of the play-off positions on goal difference.
It seems as though the Royals are frequently in national media headlines for the wrong reasons amid the ongoing off-field turmoil with their controversial owner Dai Yongge, making their start to the season even more impressive.
“That’s one thing that’s been the constant, even in the last couple of seasons where they’ve had the turmoil and unexpected disappointments behind the scenes,” Taylor said ahead of this weekend’s game. “They’ve got a good group of players. A lot to admire, whether they were forced into it or not, with their philosophy of giving young players a chance. From their academy, from within, it’s fantastic to see.
“They’ve got some serious talent. They’re a free scoring team. They’re very aggressive in terms of the way they work without the ball and some fantastic attacking players so it’s a hell of a challenge but we’re in a good position ourselves.
“We’ve won three out of the last four games in the league and we go there with the confidence of Tuesday night and the belief and expectation that we can put on a performance.”
Having to navigate through notable obstacles such as transfer embargos, Reading manager Selles has earned plenty of credit for the job he’s done in RG2 since their relegation to League One two seasons ago.
The Spaniard joined from Southampton in 2023, having taken charge of the Saints in the Premier League for the remainder of a turbulent season that saw them have three different managers en route to finishing bottom of the top-flight.
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That same campaign saw Reading relegated to the third tier while Selles also had to start his job navigating past numerous off-field issues, including three separate points deductions over the course of last season, adding up to a total of six points. The Royals ended up finishing well clear of safety in 17th and nine points above the relegation zone.
The job that the 41-year-old has done so far has seen him recently linked with the managerial vacancy at Cardiff City, although regardless of what happens there it appears as though he’ll be taking charge of this weekend’s clash.
Ahead of standing in the opposite dugout on Saturday, on Selles Taylor said: “Inside football he’s got a huge reputation. Dave Horseman worked with him at Southampton and speaks so highly of him. One thing as a manager, if you’ve got the players then you’re generally in a good position.
“Now, the transfer windows and the bans and the embargos behind the scenes and the ownership, training grounds, I don’t know the full ins and outs of how much that’s affected them. All I can see is a team which we’re playing this weekend and yeah, full credit to Ruben and his staff because only a little bit of what they’ve gone through must be difficult. They’ve got a fantastic group of players but so have we.”