After the international break, the Royals are looking to expand on their latest league result, against Port Vale. The next test is against a Barnsley team that are exceeding expectations this season after a poor 2024/25 by their standards. This is due to the help of new signings such as Caylan Vickers.
Barnsley join Reading as one of four clubs to have not played during the international break. They currently find themselves in sixth place with a game in hand on four of the top five and could go into
the top two, depending on other results.
In this preview I will mention the impact of Davis Keillor-Dunn and Vickers on Barnsley and how important it will be for Reading to lock them down during the match. I’ll also look at more players who have played for both and give my predictions.
What? League One matchday seven
Season? 2025/26
Who? Barnsley
Where? Oakwell
When? Saturday September 13
Time? 15:00
Opposition manager? Conor Hourihane
Vickers and Keillor-Dunn
As I have said, Barnsley have started the season very well, managing four wins from six games, putting them sixth. This is largely down to Keillor-Dunn and Vickers.
Keillor-Dunn has four goals this season and is the league’s second-highest goalscorer. Barnsley fans were adamant he was going to go to a Championship club during the transfer window and were shocked when it was decided he was going to stay, but the other improvements they made have helped him pick up his form again.
One of these recruits is Vickers. As Reading fans, we know how good he is: another academy product that will go onto big things in my opinion.
Signed by Brighton & Hove Albion midway through 2023/24, Vickers went on loan to Mansfield Town last season, where he showed glimpses of. He played 19 games, scoring two goals and getting three assists. On loan at Barnsley this season, you can already see that he is one of their key players.
He has played in many positions in his career so far but his best is in the attacking-midfielder spot. Barnsley have been deploying him off the right for the past couple of games and he has played well but failed to get a goal involvement.
When playing for Reading he was deployed mostly as a striker in youth tournaments and the cup games. However, he didn’t make much of an impact in the league due to Sam Smith and Harvey Knibbs being untouchable that season.
How do Reading lock him down?
Vickers is a silky player who loves to dribble and is very quick with the ball at his feet. However, when not in space he panics. Applying enough pressure to him the minute he touches the ball could see him make rash decisions, giving the ball away or being forced to play backwards.
This is why I think Kelvin Abrefa should start at left-back for this game. For me he is our most level-headed full-back and he’ll be able to put enough pressure on Vickers to try and force a misplaced pass.
Another player who I think will do a good job at removing the space is Liam Fraser. Having him in a slightly more defensive position would remove the space for Vickers to do what he does best: cutting inside and playing a pass to Keillor-Dunn or David McGoldrick.
Players who have played for both
Here are four more players who have played for both Barnsley and Reading.
Jamie Cureton made 108 appearances for the Royals, scoring 50 goals and getting two assists. For Barnsley in 2008 he played eight matches, scoring two and assisting one.
Vito Mannone played 47 times for the Royals where he managed a 71% save percentage and a 25% penalty save percentage. He started his league career with Barnsley, on loan from Arsenal, playing twice and having a save percentage of 81.8%.
Paul McShane played 102 games for the Royals, scoring four goals and assisting one from centre-back. In 2010 he made 10 appearances for Barnsley, where he grabbed one goal.
Finally, John Oster, who played 76 games for Reading, scoring twice and assisting eight goals. He managed just two games for Barnsley, where he failed to get a goal involvement.
My predictions
In goal, Joel Pereira starts. It was finally a clean sheet against Port Vale and he is our vice-captain for a reason.
The defence should be Ashqar Ahmed, Derrick Williams, Finley Burns and Abrefa. Like I said before, I think Abrefa will do well against Vickers if he starts.
The midfield should be Fraser, Lewis Wing and Kamari Doyle. Having two solid midfielders next to a bright attacking spark could be the difference against a strong club like Barnsley.
The attack should look like this: Paddy Lane, Jack Marriott and Daniel Kyerewaa. Marriot was the 1500th player to play for Reading, against Port Vale, before netting in the last match against Swindon Town, and I expect him to start this one too.
Score prediction: 1-1
I think 1-1 will go down as my most predicted scoreline.
Good luck to those travelling to the game!
Come on you Royals!
