Hello and welcome to our LIVE coverage of Stoke City v Reading from the Britannia Stadium. Kick off 15.00 GMT.

Etherington whips in a dangerous ball to Crouch that causes mayhem in the box. He nods it down to Walters but the striker can’t get a shot as Reading clear.

Hard to believe that Stoke haven’t won here since Boxing Day. Begovic launches the ball upfield.

Another whipped cross from Harte and it’s a good one this time. The bounce just beats Kebe.

Sir Alex Ferguson in the crowd today, perhaps keeping an eye on goalkeeper Asmir Begovic, a United target.

Harte whips in a cross but it’s far too long for Kebe and out for a Stoke goal kick. Good little spell for Reading though.

Etherington seeing a lot of the ball down the left early on but he’s crowded out. Shotton forced to concede a throw.

Great cross from Etherington to Crouch and he plants it wide under pressure from Mariappa. Another chance for Stoke early on.

A combative start here but the game hasn’t really settled down yet.

Reading attack down the right trough Pogrebnyak and Shawcross is forced to concede a throw. Begovic claims the resultant cross.

Shawcross aims for Crouch but he can’t knock it down to Walters. There will be a lot of that today.

Reading’s turn to attack through Akpan but he can’t find Blackman. Stoke win a throw.

A sloppy early pass from McAnuff and Kelly is forced to concede an early corner to Stoke. Etherington takes it and Federci is blocked off by Nzonzi as the ball flies across goal. Crouch is only inches away. Good early chance.

Stoke setting up 4-4-2 with Reading playing five across the midfield and lone man Pogrebnyak up front. Stoke enjoying the early possession in the Reading half. Pogrebnyak chases a through ball but can’t keep it in. Goal kick to Stoke.

Referee Michael Oliver blows the whistle to get us underway here. A big match for both sides but more important for Reading in the grand scheme of things you feel.

Five minutes to kick off. Match odds: Stoke City (10/11) Reading (18/5) Draw (5/2).

Reading have won four and lost none of the last seven meetings with Stoke City in all competitions (excl. penalty shootouts).

If Reading are masters of the late goal, then Stoke are the equivalent early scorers. They have scored the highest proportion of goals in the opening 15 minutes of matches of any team in the top division this season (25%).

Stoke lie tenth in the table, level on points with West Ham and four behind ninth placed West Brom. Despite their fine run, Reading are only two points ahead of Wigan but a win could take them above Southampton who play Manchester City on Sunday.

In contrast, Stoke are experiencing something of a slump. They have won just one of their last 10 Premier League matches (W1 D5 L4).

Following a run of seven straight defeats, Reading have lost just one of their last seven Premier League matches (W4 D2 L1). Le Fondre has scored five goals in his last four Premier League appearances, all off the substitutes bench.

Tony Pulis on Asmir Begovic: "If Manchester United come in and offer an enormous amount of money or someone else does, we would have to look at it. But I haven't brought in Butland because of that. If it comes to next season and we've still got three goalkeepers and feel Jack isn't ready, he'll be loaned out again. There was no thought in my mind of bringing Butland in just in case Asmir went. We felt it was a fantastic opportunity. The price was unbelievable."