That’s that for Reading’s 2026 summer preparations, and my initial feeling is that this has one of our best pre-seasons for quite a while. The Royals’ senior side played six friendlies between early July and the beginning of August, winning five times and losing just once. Only two goals were conceded, with 12 scored.
Farnborough 1-2 Reading (Marriott, Fraser – I know the second was probably an own-goal but I’m choosing to interpret it as an elaborate trick shot)
Getafe 1-0 Reading
Woking 0-2 Reading
(Sackey, Brown) – report here
Newport County 0-4 Reading (Brown, Stokes, Jones x2) – report here
Crawley Town 0-1 Reading (Beacroft) – report here
Charlton Athletic 0-3 Reading (Wing x2, Evans) – report here
Sure, some of those opposition teams weren’t all that strong, but Reading played well enough to deserve all five victories. They weren’t undeserved or lucky wins. We were the better side against Getafe too, so weren’t far off from a perfect run of six out of six.
So whose stock rose in the last few weeks and who came off worse? I’ve picked out my winners and losers from Reading’s pre-season below – have your say in the comments on what you’d disagree with/add. I’m also deliberately trying not to focus too much on recruitment as that tends to (understandably) take over a lot of summer chat anyway.
Winner: Leam Richardson
Reading’s manager had already talked up the importance of this summer a lot last season, and it’s fair to say he’s taken advantage of it. Richardson and his coaching team have clearly put a lot of work into developing the squad tactically and physically, with performances so far showing major improvements on both fronts from 2025/26.
The Royals look much less lethargic and negative overall than they did last season, playing much more energetically in and out of possession. The latter part of that was evident as early as the Getafe friendly on July 17, when Reading stifled the La Liga team with an aggressive press and prevented them from playing as they would have liked.
The former part though – the in-possession side – has been a breath of fresh air for Richardson’s critics who found his brand of football boring last season (including me). Reading have switched to a more positive version of the 4-2-3-1 in which both of the full-backs are given license to get forward and the wingers stay wide in a bid to stretch the play in the final third.
I wish we’d seen more of this positivity from Richardson’s Reading last season, but it’s hugely welcome now it’s here. Hats off to him for such a stark improvement in the Royals’ style (and the effectiveness of that style – hence the bright performances and results).
Richardson also just seems so much happier now, doesn’t he? He strikes me as distinctly more relaxed and chipper in his video interviews, which is great to see, given that he came in for a mighty amount of flak from supporters last season – particularly in the closing weeks of the campaign.
More of all this in the next nine months please Leam!
Losers: The injured players
Reading haven’t had it too bad with injuries this summer – no confirmed long-term absences for any key first-teamers – but some players have had frustratingly stop-start pre-seasons.
Chief among them is Jack Marriott, who scored the first goal of Reading’s summer against Farnborough and then featured against Getafe, but missed the final four fixtures. Although Joe Jacobson seemed optimistic on co-comms during the Charlton match that Marriott will be back for the Bromley (cup) and Luton Town (league) games, having to prepare without arguably our most decisive player isn’t ideal.
Otherwise the obvious problem area has been at left-back, where five players by my count have played over the summer. Main choices Haydon Roberts and Jeriel Dorsett were injured earlier on, opening up a surprise opportunity for Paddy Lane to get a few games at left-back, though Randell Williams started here at Farnborough and Kelvin Abrefa filled in late on during the same match.
Richardson will have wanted consistency on the left flank over the summer (it’s paid off mightily well on the other side of the pitch – more on that later) but he’s not been able to get it. Reading did end the summer with Roberts and Dorsett both apparently fully fit – starting one game of the final two matches a piece – but they won’t be going into the new campaign with as much momentum as the rest of the first team.
Otherwise, the last week of pre-season will have been mightily frustrating for Sean Patton. Game time would have been there for him, with Kelvin Ehibhatiomhan sold, Marriott injured and Jacob Brown missing the Charlton match due to illness, but he played no part against Newport, Crawley or Charlton (rumoured to be because of a big injury).
The twist of the proverbial knife is that others took their opportunities up top. Under-21s winger Jerae Jones scored twice as a makeshift striker in South Wales before a lively performance at Crawley in the same position, while Reece Evans (allowed to play by loan club Bedford Town) netted Reading’s second of the afternoon at The Valley.
We’ve also not spoken that much about Abraham Kanu or John Ryan this summer, who surely would have had a lot of pre-season game time if they’d been fit enough. Both signed new deals this summer and are good prospects at centre-back and left-back respectively, but there’s been no official word on either’s situation.
Winners: Reading’s entire right flank
Nowhere on the pitch did the Royals look stronger over pre-season than on the right-hand side, where – unlike the left flank – there’s been real consistency. New signings Udoka Godwin-Malife and Kyreece Lisbie are the clear first-choices at right-back and right-wing respectively, with Ashqar Ahmed and Randell Williams their understudies.
All have impressed, embodying the energy and positivity that Richardson’s new tactical approach demands. Although none managed a goal of their own, three provided excellent assists: Godwin-Malife for Tyler Sackey at Woking, Lisbie for Evans at Charlton and Ahmed for Jones and Newport (though I may have missed an assist or two somewhere).
Reading have a fair amount more work to do in the transfer window, but not down the right flank. This could well end up being the main strength of Richardson’s Royals in 2026/27.
Losers: Anyone who wanted a home game
Which includes me. I was really looking forward to seeing the revamped SCL for the first time at the Charlton game – new pitch, brightened-up seats and more.
It’s hardly the end of the world that we didn’t get that occasion due to the pitch not being fully ready, plus it was good of the club to stream the rearranged game for free, and the Luton match apparently isn’t in doubt. Jacobson said during the Charlton friendly on co-comms that he has, and I quote, “absolutely no doubt” about that fixture.
I don’t want to point fingers as, surprise surprise, the extent of my knowledge around summer pitch renovations is that grass is (generally) green and people play football on it. Suffice to say however that the optics for the club aren’t great, especially as one fan managed to get an aerial photograph of the patchy-looking pitch on July 31.
Hopefully there’s smooth progress from here on developing the pitch in the weeks before the Luton game, and the overall matchday occasion of a first home fixture of the new season goes well.
Still, this whole issue has been a real… pain in the grass.
Winner: Andy Rinomhota, loser: Charlie Savage
I’ll lump these players together as they’re essentially on two sides of the same coin, with the former jumping ahead of the latter in the midfield pecking order.
It’s not too often that a first-team regular gets leapfrogged in pre-season without them doing anything overtly wrong, but that appears to have happened in this case. Only Wing and Joel Pereira managed more than Savage’s 3,481 league minutes in 2025/26, but he’s certainly now dropped below Rinomhota in Richardson’s thinking.
Savage partnered Wing in the starting line-up of Reading’s first pre-season friendly (away to Farnborough), with Rinomhota and Fraser on at half-time. However, for the remaining five games of the summer, Wing was paired with Rinomhota and Savage with Fraser – including in the final two matches as Savage/Fraser started in the ‘second XI’ at Crawley’ and Wing/Rinomhota were chosen to play in a far stronger ‘first XI’ at Charlton.
You can see why Richardson’s switched things up. Rinomhota offers more muscle, aggression and ball-carrying ability to the midfield than Savage, all of which suits the intenser, higher-energy style the manager now wants – and complements the more technical Wing. Savage is no slouch of course, offering boundless energy, but if you want a proper ball-winner you opt for Rinomhota.
So far so logical, on paper at least, but I’ll be fascinated to see how this all works out in practice. After all, Rinomhota’s injury record is a concern, and how will Savage be feeling? He’s been pushed down the pecking order and is now in the final year of his contract, plus (at time of writing anyway) there’s no sign of the permanent exit that had been rumoured in January and many of us had assumed would materialise this summer.
Let’s see how this one plays out.
Winner: Kelvin Ehibhatiomhan
I’m really happy for him. We’ve talked so much about how frustratingly inconsistent Long Kelvin was in a Reading shirt, but there’s undoubtedly a talented player in there, and it’s fantastic for his sake that that potential has been rewarded by a move to the Danish top flight.
Obviously Reading have an interest in Ehibhatiomhan doing well – there’ll surely be a sell-on fee included which could help us out in the future – but his AC Horsens move was a big win for the player personally. Good luck in Denmark, Kelv.
Winners: Youngsters coming to the fore
This summer was a surprisingly good one for the under-21s when you consider the criticism levelled at Richardson (including by me) for giving them a paltry amount of minutes in the two dead-rubbers at the end of 2025/26. A number of them can – to varying degrees – say they’ve done their part in catching the manager’s eye over the last few weeks.
Going by the amount of game time he got over pre-season, it feels like a safe bet to say Emmanuel Osho has done the best job on that front. He featured in all six of Reading’s summer friendlies, with his most significant involvement being a start as part of a strong XI at Newport, although he also impressed in his 45 minutes at Crawley and could have scored a few times in that game.
Reading are pretty well stocked for senior wingers (Lisbie, Daniel Kyerewaa, Williams, Lane and Brown can all play there) but the rigours of a full competitive campaign will surely create opportunities for others, even if it’s primarily cup action. Don’t rule out Osho making his mark in 2026/27 when openings arise.
The Royals’ current lack of centre-backs means Boyd Beacoft and Philip Duah – both of whom did well in starts against Crawley – could have opportunities this season. The former is probably ahead of the latter (even excluding his wonder goal in West Sussex), but Duah’s mixture of strength, mobility and composure in possession makes him a bright prospect.
Richardson also seemed keen to use attacking midfielder Luke Howard, giving him a number of appearances throughout the summer, albeit resulting in fewer minutes overall than Osho. But fellow playmaker David Hicks did himself no harm whatsoever at the very end of the summer, handed a start at Charlton out of the blue but making the most of it with a classy showing.
Winners: Globetrotting Reading fans
We haven’t had enough overseas friendlies in recent years, let alone ones that fans could attend in person, so the Getafe game was a great occasion. It’s the kind of unique fun that rarely comes the way of lower-league fans, so I’m admittedly quite jealous of everyone who made it over to Spain.
Plus, it was extra nice to see Ruben Selles made an appearance. A lovely touch indeed.
