Fan of stats in football? Well, this is the podcast for you. Ross is joined by Dan Worth, head of social and content for WhoScored, famous for their player ratings and the EFL teams of the week. The pair discuss how those ratings and teams come together, then turn their eye to their mutual passion: the Royals. Dan tells us the best stats for assessing Ruben Selles’ pressing system, what the future may hold for Sam Smith, and which Reading player is making an absolute mockery of his xG numbers. Thanks as always to our friends ZCZ Films for their support. Follow the Tilehurst End on Twitter @th ..read more

Photo by Naomi Baker/Getty Images For Alex, if this Reading side has a cult hero, it’s none other than Amadou Mbengue. When trying to define what a cult hero is, I struggled to find the right words. I did a little looking around the internet and I found a segment from The Athletic that I think did a reasonable job of summarising it, albeit not entirely accurately: “Footballing cult heroism is conveniently vague enough as a concept to accommodate a whole spectrum of players who, for one reason or several, formed an affinity with their club’s fanbase almost at first glance, while also being wel ..read more

Photo by Andrew Matthews/PA Images via Getty Images Alex explains why Reading’s head of football operations deserves credit for his work behind the scenes. Here’s an opinion for Royals fans: the ship would most likely have sunk without Mark Bowen. Strong opening statement really, isn’t it? Also, it’s an interesting one because I am not entirely sure how many fans, if any, would agree with this sentiment. I don’t get the impression many would, but I could be wrong, so I’d like to take the opportunity to highlight just how and why he has been so instrumental to some of the best moments that we h ..read more

Ben and Ross chew over the penultimate game of Reading’s 2023/24 season. Burton Albion condemn Reading to another loss on the road, but Ben and Ross aren't too bothered now that survival is secured, and Dia Del Jefe is on the horizon... There's a lot up for discussion in the mailbag though, with the season coming to a close and the pair in a reflective mood. Thanks as always to our friends at ZCZ Films for their sponsoring of the show. Follow Ben on Twitter @mrblthomas Follow Ross on Twitter @WebberRoss Follow The Tilehurst End on Twitter @TheTilehurstEnd The Tilehurst End Podcast can be enjo ..read more

PA Images via Getty Images How the fans reacted to the final away trip of the season. It has staggered me, truly, that this season of all season our away support has been the best I can remember it. Another sold-out away end travelled up to Burton Albion for the final away game of the season, but unfortunately witnessed a lacklustre performance from their team. A poor first half meant we left ourselves with too much to do and Burton ran out deserved winners. However, results elsewhere had already meant we mathematically sealed our League One status for another year - so the word bittersweet ca ..read more

Photo by Alex Davidson - The FA/The FA via Getty Images Jessie Stapleton’s winner, together with a Lewes defeat, secured second-tier safety for the Royals. A second-half goal from Jessie Stapleton was enough for Reading Women to bag all three points today. It was their first double of the campaign and, more importantly, secured Championship football next season, with a 1-0 victory against Durham Women - who were reduced to 10 players after the sending-off of Dee Bradley in the 32nd minute, following a lunging tackle on Tia Primmer. The midday kick-off didn’t stop the early league-survival cele ..read more

Photo by Marc Atkins/Getty Images The Royals were 3-1 down at the break after a leaky first half, but managed to pull it back to 3-2 after the restart. The Royals travelled to Staffordshire for a trip to relegation-threatened Burton Albion on Saturday. The Brewers took the lead after five minutes through Mason Bennett and they extended their lead just minutes later through Mustapha Carayol. Lewis Wing got one back before the home side extended their lead with a Bobby Kamwa goal to make it 3-1 at half-time. Sam Smith scored a second-half penalty for the Royals to make it 3-2. Manager Ruben Sell ..read more

Goals from Lewis Wing and Sam Smith weren't enough to salvage anything in a dead-rubber defeat at Burton. So that’s that then. Well, hopefully anyway. You never know, it wouldn’t surprise me if the EFL slapped us with a new points deduction now we are mathematically safe. But let’s put cynicism aside for a little while - we’re safe and we’ll be playing League One football next season. The football itself was pretty drab to be honest. Particularly the first half when we gifted them three really poor goals. It’s an age-old and probably overused cliche, but the players really did look like they ..read more

Photo by Richard Sellers/PA Images via Getty Images The Royals played out their final away game of the season with a disappointing performance at the Pirelli. Joel Pereira: 6 Couldn’t do much about the first goal, but had an unfortunate part in the second, mis-hitting his pass/clearance between two Reading players, and seeing the ball come right back. Made a great save in the 17th minute to stop Reading falling to a 3-0 deficit before the 20th minute. Made another good save in the runup to Burton’s third goal, saving from a deflected shot low to his left and giving the full-back an opportunity ..read more

Photo by Mike Egerton/PA Images via Getty Images Reading's final away-day opponents are in desperate need of points to stay in the division. Reading’s penultimate game of the 2023/24 season sees the Royals travel to Burton Albion. Join us as we take a closer look at the opposition. Form Burton finished 15th in League One last season, finishing on 56 points following 15 wins, 11 draws and 20 losses. This is their sixth straight season in the third tier, having been relegated from the Championship in the 2017/18 season after a two-year stay in the second tier. They are currently in a relegation ..read more