U23s PREVIEW: Reading v Burnley

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Big Royals' appointment for Clarets in bid to keep play-off hopes alive

2021-04-16T09:35:00.000Z

U23s PREVIEW: Reading v Burnley

Big Royals' appointment for Clarets in bid to keep play-off hopes alive

2021-04-16T09:35:00.000Z

Big Royals' appointment for Clarets in bid to keep play-off hopes alive

The Under-23s head to Reading today (Friday) with coach Steve Stone looking for a big finish to reward the season’s efforts.

The Clarets are still in with a chance of a play-off spot in the Second Division of Premier League 2.

And while Stone has been disappointed to see opportunities to nail down a top-five place pass his players by with a defeat and a draw in their last two games, he wants them to bounce back and cap a progressive few months by keeping their promotion hopes alive.

“The players have got to look at how positive the season has been from where they have come from at the start and what they’ve achieved now,” said the U23s’ boss.

Clarets aim to ensure trip to champions isn't end of the road

“It's my job now to try and put them into a formation and with the right tactics to try and get them to a point where they can deliver.

“I'm going to try and give them the best opportunity that they can deliver today and then it’s over to them.

“We are going to work as a staff, coaches and players - as a real unit - to try and get this one game over the line and see if we can get a victory to push us forward any which way we can.”

The Clarets – who hit back from 2-0 down to draw with Norwich City on Monday – go to Reading fourth in the table with just two games to go, including a finale at champions-elect Leeds United.

But if they can pick up a first win in three matches at the Royals’ training ground (KO 1pm) they will have every chance of taking their promotion bid to the final regular game of the campaign.

And after taking just four points from their six games of the season, Stone believes that would be a laudable effort for a squad playing at this level for the first time on the back of a testing summer around recruitment and Covid restrictions.

U23s PREVIEW: Reading v Burnley - Image 2

“I want this for the players because they have put all the hard work in and to justify why they're here and why they've played every game and why they are in that league position,” he added.

“The positives are there for them for what they have done in the season.

“After winning one game in the first six, if you had given the players and the staff taking it to the last game of the season to get a play-off place, it’s probably what you would have accepted.

“We have fought and scrapped from the bottom of the league and shown what we're about and that's a real positive. There are many traits of what the first team have gone through this season.

“The first team has done a great job of getting to where they have got to and our boys have followed suit in that. But they have to finish it off. There's no relaxing.

“I want them to understand that the season goes right to the end and the best players always go right to the end. I want them to finish it off for themselves. They deserve for the effort they have put in to get in those play-offs.

“But football owes you nothing. Every game starts at 0-0 and they have to realise that and start every game right.”

Reading – who lost 3-1 at Burnley in December when the Clarets had a couple of returning first-teamers in their ranks – have slipped off the play-off pace with back-to-back defeats.

But they are still just three points behind the Clarets and on a big day in the promotion race, sixth-placed Middlesbrough host Fulham and eighth-placed Aston Villa are at home to Leeds United, who could wrap up the title.