Added by Kevin Luff - 18th September 2006

Darlington head to Reading tomorrow night in a rare Carling Cup second appearance. Quakers dumped Championship side Stoke City out of the competition in the previous round and have been handed Premiership Reading in their own backyard as way of reward. The Royals have made a good start to their Premiership campaign but are expected to hand chances to some of their fringe players for this fixture.

Royals boss Steve Coppell appears ready to make changes to the side that beat Sheffield United in the Premiership over the weekend. New signings Ulises de la Cruz, Andre Bikey and Peter Mate - each an international for his respective country - are set to make their first appearances. Meanwhile Glen Little, Brynjar Gunnarsson, Stephen Hunt and Shane Long, who played a part in the club's run away promotion last season, could be set to play a part as well.

Coppell may well be casting half an eye to the next Premiership fixture - the visit of Manchester United. Many of the players who figure against Darlington could well find themselves on the bench or out of contention for the next game but the Reading manager says that a decent showing in the Carling Cup would not go unnoticed. Darlington made changes in their previous match in the competition and have scope to alter their team as well.

"I need a squad of players who are capable of performing and all of them think they are capable of being first team players," said Coppell. "This is a chance for them to prove they can perform well at a level. A number have not played at the stadium before in a competitive game so I am really interested to see how they are going to do. It's a first team game and given the patchwork quilt that is the nine month season, this is my first team for this game."

Regardless of which team Reading play of Tuesday night Darlington will face a tough test. Whilst Coppell may well field something akin to a reserve team for the fixture there will still be plenty of experience in the side. De la Cruz is a seasoned campaigner having represented Ecuador in two World Cups and played in the Premiership with Aston Villa. Bikey and Mate may be unproven as of yet but have both represented their country in the shape of Cameroon and Hungary under 21's and something has clearly been seen in them for Reading to take a look at the pair. Both will be eager to prove themselves.

Darlington go into this encounter on the back of a disappointing result against Bristol Rovers on Saturday. Quakers put in a poor performance but earned a point with a last gasp strike by Martin Smith. Hodgson admits the result against Rovers in the League means that this game takes on some added importance as his team look to return to winning ways ahead of a tough game against Shrewsbury Town who successfully took on Hartlepool United at Victoria Park over the weekend.

"You would have loved to have won this and then you would have gone into the Reading game with a buzz. You would have said 'Okay it's a Carling Cup game, it's against a Premier League side etc if we win great, if not well okay.' Now it suddenly has a different angle to it because we want to get back to winning ways," said Hodgson after the draw with Bristol Rovers.