READING FC WOMEN host Brighton & Hove Albion this Sunday in a crunch match with both sides looking to preserve their place in the Women’s Super League.
The Royals have seven games left to play this campaign and face the first of their remaining matches against a fellow relegation rival.
Reading go into the contest on the back of being knocked out of the FA Cup at the quarter-final stage against Chelsea with full attention now on surviving in the top flight.
Kelly Chambers’ team are currently on 10 points from 15 league games which puts them three points above the drop zone.
Meanwhile, Brighton are one place and two points behind Reading, but have played two games fewer.
With just one team going down from the WSL each season, Reading and Brighton are both in the midst of a tense relegation battle alongside bottom side Leicester City as well as Tottenham Hotspur who did boost their chances of survival with a win over the Foxes last week.
The Seagulls are onto their third managerial appointment of the season after Jens Scheuer departed having joined just two months earlier.
The German replaced long term manager Hope Powell in October after Brighton were smashed 8-0 by Spurs.
However, following a heavy 6-2 loss to Aston Villa, he left his position by mutual consent after just 68 days in charge.
Despite their troubles in the league, Brighton did set up an FA Cup semi-final tie after they progressed by beating Championship side Birmingham City 2-0 with goals from former Royal Danielle Carter and Poppy Pattinson.
Amy Merricks has now taken over the position on an interim basis for the second time this season.
The Seasiders have collected just one point from their last five league matches. That came in a 1-1 draw at Aston Villa last month in which Julia Zigotti Olme scored a 74th minute equaliser to claim a point.
A damaging defeat in January to bottom side Leicester, who prior to the match had yet to pick up a single point, saw Brighton go down 3-0 to drag them into the relegation scrap.
Brighton also have the worst goal difference in the entire division having conceded the most goals in the league.
They have shipped an astonishing 44 goals in 13 matches which means they have conceded 10 more goals than Reading, who have the second worst defensive record.
In the earlier meeting between the teams in September, Brighton picked up just one of their two league victories of the campaign so far in a 2-1 triumph.
