GO WEST FA Cup 3rd round draw

Reading were the second team drawn out of the hat in this afternoon's FA Cup third round draw following West Bromwich Albion, which means we will have a trip to the Hawthorns on the weekend of January 7th/8th 2006.

This will be only the second ever FA Cup tie between the teams, 2nd division Albion knocking out Reading of Division 3 South from the 1947/48 competition by two goals to nil at the Hawthorns. However, more recently in the League Cup we have twice eliminated the Baggies - at Elm Park in 1967 with a 3-1 win over the then 1st division side and 5-3 on aggregate in 1995 after a James Lambert inspired Reading memorably triumphed 4-2 at the Hawthorns in the second leg.

Floyd on Football considers this to be a good draw. It will be a more realistic barometer of our top flight ambitions than the recent phoney war Arsenal Carling Cup tie, there should be a good Reading support on the day with a realistic chance at beating a Premiership team on their own patch.