City won the reverse fixture with the Royals 3-1 on a bitterly cold afternoon in January at the Regional Athletics Stadium – an occasion marked by the goalscoring return of John Guidetti from injury.
It remains to be seen if the Swedish striker will recover from the niggle that kept him out of City’s 4-1 win over Stoke City last time out in the Barclays U21 Premier League.
The Blues are currently joint-top of National Group 2 ahead of the Royals on goal difference and with just one finals place available in this section, City will be looking to pull away.
For a number of the EDS squad, it will be their first match since the FA Youth Cup defeat to Derby last Tuesday, so the match presents an opportunity to exorcise any demons after that disappointing night at Pride Park.
Denis Suarez, Eirik Johansen, Albert Rusnak and Emyr Huws are likely to return to the squad after being ineligible for the Youth Cup game.
Tickets cost £4 for adults and £2 for concessions and will be available at the gate.
We’ll let you know how the Blues get on here on mcfc.co.uk.
