Jack Marriott’s injury is rumoured to leave him sidelined for the foreseeable, possibly seeing the striker out for the season. With only 12 matches to go for Reading to gatecrash the playoffs, the big question for Reading fans now is who will lead the line?
Kelvin Ehibhatiomhan
Ehibhatiomhan led the line in Reading’s most recent match, in the 2-1 win over Bradford. He remained on the pitch for the 90 minutes but was moved over to the left wing when Sean Patton came on in the 79th.
Ehibhatiomhan has featured 30 times in
the league for the Royals (10 starts) this season, scoring three times, but under Noel Hunt and now Leam Richardson, Ehibhatiomhan has mainly been utilised on the left-hand side rather than down the middle.
This has been in an attempt to work with his strengths, with the 22-year-old being more suited to having the ball at his feet and taking opponents on rather than holding the ball up and bringing others into play from long balls, such as Reading’s style.
Will Keane
Will Keane has had success under Richardson before, having won the League One title with the manager in the 2021/22 season, netting 26 times in 44 games that campaign. In his short time at Reading so far, Keane has scored twice from six matches with three starts.
Richardson has used Keane primarily in the 10, just behind the striker, or as a second striker in a pair with Marriott, but with the previous success the pair had together, could we see Richardson rely on Keane to help fire the Royals into the top six come the end of the season?
Keane is the most experienced striker on this list, scoring 85 league goals in his career so far. He’s featured for the national team, picking up five caps for Ireland despite previously playing for England youth from under-19s to under-21s.
Despite having the most illustrious career on this list, Keane is in the twilight years of his career, being 33 now, with concerns over if he can keep up with the rigorous schedule that League One entails.
Sean Patton
The young Irishman was recalled just hours before making his second league appearance for the Royals, but had a very successful loan spell at National League side Aldershot, where in his time in Hampshire he managed to net five goals in six league matches.
Now Patton is back in RG2, many fans have spoken on social media praising the young forward, even going as far as to compare him to Reading legend Kevin Doyle.
The striker will be high on confidence following the loan, with fans getting a glimpse of what he can offer when he replaced Kamari Doyle in the 79th minute in a triple change which helped inspire the Royals to clutch victory from the jaws of defeat.
But can Patton make the jump to being a League One leading striker?
Mark O’Mahony
Despite confusion in the January transfer window over whether O’Mahony was still at the club, I can confirm the Irishman remains here.
With him being the only ‘senior’ striker at the club not yet mentioned, the centre-forward has netted twice for the Royals: once in the Vertu Trophy against West Ham United’s under-21s and the other against Carlisle United in the FA Cup.
The Irishman has struggled for form since coming in on loan from Brighton & Hove Albion however, hence why he is still without a league goal for the club. It is unlikely O’Mahony will be trusted in leading the line for the run-in as he does not look to be in Richardson’s plans, having not featured since a 2-1 home defeat to Peterborough back in December.
Final thoughts
In conclusion it will be a big ask for any of these strikers to fill the boots of the League One top scorer. Marriott has out-performed his expected goals (xG) a game by 10, having netted 16 league goals this campaign from an xG of just 6.45, and managing to fire 29 of his 52 shots on target, forcing a save out of the keeper 55.77% of the time.
I believe Ehibhatiomhan should be given the opportunity to lead the line for the Royals, with Patton being bled into the side, as Patton is still very inexperienced and we haven’t seen how he would fair in League One after having success at Aldershot Town.
Ehibhatiomhan has been primarily used as a winger over the last 18 months but spent his entire time in the academy as a striker, so he has got experience up top, having scored 21 goals in 127 games since breaking into the first team.
The reason why I chose Ehibhatiomhan over Keane, despite his wealth of experience and history of scoring goals, is that Keane is only getting older and is only here for six months. If we can develop payers that will be here for the long run then that can help benefit the club long term, while also keeping one eye on this current season’s goals.
But who do you think is best suited to fill the 31 year old’s boots?
