Two sides looking for their first Championship win of the season meet at the Madejski Stadium on Sunday as Reading host Leeds United.

Reading are searching for their first points of 2015-16, while Leeds are hoping to build on an encouraging opening-day draw with Burnley.

Reading

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Having endured a difficult first season in charge of the Royals, Steve Clarke had a torrid start to 2015-16 at St Andrew's, where Reading lost 6-1 last season.

He watched his side more than match Birmingham City but still come out on the losing side as summer signing Orlando Sa missed a 98th-minute penalty to rescue a point.

Since then, Clarke's men have played a further 120 minutes in the Capital One Cup, ousting League One side Colchester United 1-0 thanks to Chris Gunter's extra-time strike.

One in, one out at the Madejski this week, with Hope Akpan joining Blackburn Rovers and Peru international Paolo Hurtado arriving on a three-year deal.

This is Reading's first home game of the season and they are hoping to avoid a fourth straight defeat at the Madejski after slumping at home at the end of last season.

Away from the field, the club has been rocked by the news that academy manager Eamonn Dolan is undergoing a course of chemotherapy after having a tumour removed from his bladder.

A minute's applause is expected in the 21st minute to mark Dolan's success with the Royals' Under-21 outfit, and Leeds have asked travelling fans to join in as well.

Recent form: LW

Leeds

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Another summer of change at Leeds, but there is much more optimism among supporters than in previous years.

They welcomed newly-relegated Burnley in a tough opener on Saturday and put in a rousing performance in the 1-1 draw. Mirco Antenucci's curler from distance gave them a late lead, but Burnley hit back almost instantly to take a point back to Lancashire.

It means that Leeds are now unbeaten in three Championship matches stretching back to last season having lost five in a row before that.

Uwe Rosler's side have had two days less rest than Reading after their first-round League Cup tie at Doncaster Rovers was moved to Thursday for television coverage. Lewis Cook put them in front at the Keepmoat, but was then sent off as Donny forced extra time before winning the penalty shootout to dump Leeds out at the first hurdle for the first time in their history.

After scoring the highest percentage of goals from outside the box (26%) in the Championship last season, nine of Leeds's 15 efforts on goal against Burnley came from beyond 18 yards.

Recent form: DL

Team News

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The game might come too soon for Hurtado and Clarke could revert back to the side that started the season opener against Birmingham after making four changes for the trip to Colchester.

Summer signings Jonathan Bond, Paul McShane, Stephen Quinn and Sa should continue, but Dominic Samuel won't be available after damaging his knee at Colchester.

Rosler is without Cook for three games after the young midfielder's rash challenge at Donny. He will either start Luke Murphy in a like-for-like swap or could give Antenucci a start and change to a 4-4-2 formation.

Elsewhere for the visitors, Marco Silvestri and Sol Bamba will return to the backline after getting a rest in midweek.

Reading possible starting lineup:
Bond; Gunter, Hector, McShane, Obita; Tshibola, Norwood, Williams, Quinn; Blackman, Sa

Leeds possible starting lineup:
Silvestri; Berardi, Bamba, Bellusci, Taylor; Adeyemi, Murphy, Mowatt; Byram, Dallas; Wood

Head To Head

The last meeting between these two was also in Berkshire in February, when Leeds's 2-0 win ended a nine-game winless streak against the Royals.

Reading have failed to score in their last two games against Leeds; they have never gone three without netting against the Whites.

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Hit play below to see what the Sports Mole Sofa had to say about this encounter:

We say: Reading 1-1 Leeds

We are going for a third straight 1-1 draw for Leeds, who will certainly miss impressive youngster Cook in the middle. The sad news about Dolan will lift the mood at the Madejski, but they might struggle to break down the visitors.

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