Reading vs. Birmingham Predictions: Royals to keep their comeback going at home

Tuesday night sees five games taking place in the Championship, after the late postponement at Swansea. We have previews and best bets on site for all the games which you can find in our Championship hub. We have asked our EFL expert @OddsTerrier to check out the game at The Select Car Leasing Stadium between Reading and Birmingham City and he's got a couple of nice bets for you to look at. 

Reading enter this fixture in buoyant spirits, having finally ended a winless streak that dated back to late November, with a fantastic 3-2 away win at Preston. They are also playing their first game under new interim boss Paul Ince and his assistant Alex Rae so will be eager to impress. 

Birmingham have only one win in their last six and will still be looking slightly nervously over their shoulder as Derby continue to pick up points. They have however, picked up four points in their last two games including an impressive 3-0 win over Luton and a very creditable point away at Stoke. Manager Lee Bowyer will be confident of a result here against a Reading side 11 points below them in the table. 

My first selection is in the match result market and I really like Reading to pick up the three points here. The fans will be right up for a game under lights against a fellow potential relegation candidate, following the superb win away at Deepdale. The two scorers in that game were Lucas Joao and John Swift and these two really make the Royals tick; being involved directly in 28 of the 39 goals Reading have scored this season. Now Joao is back fit and available I can see them continuing to move the right direction up the Championship Table. Birmingham have failed to impress in recent weeks and have big injury issues in the backline that I can see Joao exploiting. 

The 8/5 on offer looks value for a team on the up at home. 

Secondly I've a bet builder double based on two player props. 

As already mentioned, Lucas Joao is absolutely essential to the way that Reading play. He is direct, quick and can finish and proved that with a brace at the weekend in the north west. He has scored four and assisted two goals in just eight starts this season and is averaging 2.2 shots per game with half of those on target. Last year the big Portuguese striker notched 19 goals so he clearly knows where the onion bag is. 

I've combined this with Birmingham central midfielder Juninho Bacuna to be shown a card. Bacuna has only just moved to the club in January from Rangers and has committed nine fouls in just five games, picking up one yellow card in that time. He also picked up two yellow cards in six games up in Scotland and as a Huddersfield Town fan I know precisely how petulant and reckless Bacuna's tackles can be at times. Bacuna picked up 16 yellows in 78 starts whilst in West Yorkshire and was lucky to only pick up a solitary red card. 

The two bets can be combined for a little over 7/1 at bet365.