Kevin O'Connor takes his Brentford B side to face Reading U23, a 1pm kick-off at Reading's Hogwood Park Training Ground.

This is the B Team's first official fixture since they returned from Italy on Wednesday 25 October. The last time these two sides met at this venue, Reading were defeated 2-1 by a Bees team that included Alan McCormack and Josh Clarke.

Zain Westbrooke and Reece Cole scored the goals that day, however both are missing from the squad today. Zain is on loan at Leyton Orient, while Reece is recovering from an injury he sustained during his own loan spell at Newport County. Also missing today will be Henrik Johansson, who sustained his long-term injury while playing in that match on 1 February this calendar year.

Marcus Forss has been out recently with his own knock, he could return to the side in some capacity this afternoon. This match is also an opportunity for Kevin O'Connor to use players like Justin Shaibu and Ilias Chatzitheodoridis. Both have been involved in the First Team recently, both could benefit from minutes in this match.

Overall, this will be the third time Brentford B have played Reading since their inaugral season last year. The first meeting between the two sides came in October 2016 at Jersey Road. That day, Raphael Assibey-Mensah struck a hat-trick on the way to a 4-1 win at home.