Let's hope Reading have one eye on the FA Cup semi-final

I suppose some AFCB fans will say that the Royals have not been able to hold this Cherries side of late and with the FA Cup semi-final against Arsenal on the horizon it is likely that most of the Royal's first team will be sheltered from a run out in this fixture. Does that make it a simple task for the Cherries? I doubt it as AFCB have a habit of causing us all heartache and nail biting. Had AFCB been a few points clear at this point it may have seemed more of a formality, but an away game is far from that and Bournemouth have to turn up and put in a top performance if they want to keep ahead of the chasing teams.

4000 AFCB fans will be heading to the Madjeski stadium

It is hard to know exactly what team Steve Clarke will put out. In the last league game against Bolton before their quarter final away game against Bradford City he made four changes and for the replay he changed the whole team from the one which played Watford in the Championship two days earlier. Something similar might be expected against AFCB, but reading have three full days to recover before facing Arsenal so he could start with a strong side and see how it goes in the first half before making some changes. The FA Cup is Readings season now and it is likely that Clarke will put everything he has into the match against Arsenal at Wembley for that reason.

Just who will be in that Reading side?

The form of Reading has been inconsistent in the league of late. They have drawn their last three games and barring the FA Cup they have not won at home since 10 March, while during February they did not win at home all month when they played Leeds, Wigan and Nottingham Forest. Still they beat Derby and Ipswich away that month which means that they can perform on their day.

Simon Cox leads their goal stats on eight for the season and just behind him is Pavel Pogrebnyak and then Jamie Mackie on six.

Reading Home Form
LLWDD

AFCB Away Form
LWDDW

You can read Cherry Chimes' pre-match interview with The Tilehurst End Blog by visiting their site and you can catch up on the reverse interview here on Cherry Chimes' Rival Lines.

It looks like Matt Ritchie may be struggling to make this game with the stitches he had after the Brighton match, but I suspect that Adam Smith could well get a start in this game. Enjoy the game and remember to sing loudly at the Madjeski - I'll see you there - UTCIAD!

The Cherries can end Forest's season

Who would have thought that Nottingham Forest would be needing a win at Bournemouth to stay in the play-off race this late in the season? Arguably one of the pre-season favourites for the title it all went a bit wrong for Forest causing them to part company with Billie Davies. All credit to their players though they have turned their form back around again and are coming to Dean Court with some good results behind them. It won't change the fact though that AFCB would love to stop them in their tracks.

Nottingham Forest players warm up at the City ground.

That won't be an easy task though. Forest have quality in just about every position and the side has probably slightly under performed at least if you talk to the bookies. Andy Reid has been their big threat for most of the season and just watching him play you can see what great skill he has on the ball while his shooting power is as good as any midfielder in the division.

The young man though that has been exciting to watch is Jamie Paterson and he looks like he could play at a higher level having steered Forest past West Ham's FA Cup select team earlier in the season and has continued his scoring run in the Championship. He is another quick thinking player and seems to pop up in the holes where defenders least expect so I would think that Eunan O'Kane will be looking out for him.

At Nottingham AFCB got a late equaliser from Marc Pugh.

Matt Derbyshire is also well known to our supporters from his loan period at Oldham Athletic in League One last year and he has been scoring for fun in recent weeks. The couple he scored against Leeds in Forest last away game showed his strength and the first came in the initial few seconds of the game. Henri Lansbury also scored a belter against the Cherries up at the City ground and Simon Cox is another player who will score the odd goal for them.

So where is Forest's weakness? It could just be in their over confidence. They expected to beat AFCB easily at home and yet they came unstuck. They are likely to be equally confident of taking all three points at Dean Court and that could well suit the Cherry to see them come at us, because on the break AFCB have scored some great goals this season. Away from home Forest have not been doing as well as when they play at home and the stakes in this game will be particularly high for Forest, while the Cherries may just like playing with a bit of freedom and no real pressure now.

Nottingham Forest Away form
DLDLW

AFCB Home form
DWWWL