THE ROYALS will be tested by non-league opposition this weekend when they travel to Kidderminster Harriers in the FA Cup third-round.
The magic of the cup often throws up surprises, but Veljko Paunovic’s side will be hoping that they can avoid being victims of a cup upset when they visit the Addborough Stadium.
The National League North side have already battled their way through five FA Cup ties to earn their shot against the Championship side.
Their journey in the world’s oldest cup competition began in the second qualifying round in September when they beat Sporting Khalsa 3-1 away from home.
An away draw at Ware in the third qualifying round forced the game to a replay back a Kidderminster where the hosts progressed with a 3-0 triumph.
In the first-round proper, they got past Conference Premier side Grimsby Town thanks to Ashley Hemmings’ successful penalty in a 1-0 win.
They then defeated Halifax Town in the second round with goals from Hemmings and Amari Morgan-Smith.
Under the management of Russell Penn, who was appointed as their boss in April 2020, Kidderminster are currently in fifth position in the table after 16 matches.
They go into the cup game in the midst of a purple patch having won five of their last six matches with leaves them firmly in the race for the promotion places.
Despite being nine points off the top, Harriers have three games in hand on three of the four sides above them in the standings.
Hemmings, who already has two goals to his name in the FA Cup, is Harriers’ top scorer in the league with nine in 16 games, while Sam Austin has seven in 16.
Having only played one match in the last four weeks due to covid-19 postponements, Paunovic may choose to elect a stronger squad than initially expected when the tie was drawn to get his team up to speed.
Reading’s only previous FA Cup campaign under Paunovic came to an abrupt end last season when they were knocked out of the third-round by Luton Town.
The Royals got all the way to the semi-finals of the competition in 2015 with a memorable run that saw them edged out by Premier League, and eventual winners, Arsenal after extra-time with a brace from Alexis Sanchez.
