Published: Saturday, 8th August, 2009 2:18pm

Reading v Nottingham Forest - LIVE

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FULL TIME: Reading 0 Nottingham Forest 0.

A repeat of last season's result at the City Ground on the opening day.

Reading bossed most of the game but lacked an end product while Forest were solid without showing much invention.

It is hard to know what conclusion to draw from the result but Royals boss Brendan Rodgers will be pleased with the performance of his young and new-look team than contained three debutants.

Royals had the better chances, were slick in possession but need to be sharper in front of goal if they are to challenge at the top end of the table.

90 mins. FIVE minutes of time added on. Can Royals press home their numerical advantage? At the moment, it seems unlikely.......

88 mins. And what is this? Forest's Luke Chambers is shown a straight red card for an off the ball incident that the linesman spotted. Confusion everywhere and tempers flare. Billy Davies will be happy.

87 mins: Kebe can't keep his header on target from Long's deep cross as a goalless draw looks more and more likely.

84 mins. Another good chance goes begging for Rodgers' side. Long bursts down the right and Camp punches his cross to Davies. Sadly, the younsgter blazed the rebound over.

81 mins. Federici makes a stunning save to deny Earnshaw after some poor Reading defender. The Forest striker cannot believe Fedders kept that one out.

Still no end to the deadlock.

77 mins. Bertrand goes off on a brilliant 50-yard mazy run that is cynically ended by Majewski just outside the box. A certain bookable offence but the Forest midfielder gets away with what would have been a second yellow.

Davies tries his luck but puts the free-kick over the bar.

The attendance is 19,640.

74 mins. Reading-born Nathan Tyson comes on to loud applause from both sets of fans.

Gunter's shot is deflected wide and Forest are having a decent spell.

70 mins. Reading escape. Chris Gunter's cross lands perfectly on Dele Adebola's head, eight yards out. Thankfully, the ball flies over the bar.

65 mins. Again, Davies smashes one and this time the ball hits Kebe in front of an open goal and bounces wide. So unlucky. Karacan is booked.

65 mins. Now Shane Long is on for Reading in place of Robson-Kanu.

64 mins. Davies shows his threat from range again with a thunderous, angled strike from 30 yards that Camp could only beat away.

61 mins. Forest make their first sub and send on Rob Earnshaw for McGoldrick.

55 mins. A brilliant Kebe run as he leaves two opponents in his wake. Sadly, the final ball did not match the build-up and Forest clear.

54 mins: Jimmy Kebe slipped as he shot from a dangerous position which was lucky for Forest.

52 mins. Joel Lynch has gone close for Forest and Majewski has been booked.

47 mins: No changes for the second-half for either team. Royals fans really need to get behind the players now because three points are definitely available.

HALF TIME: 0-0.

Royals have edged the first period without really threatening to score. Plenty of positives to take but the game has lacked any real goalmouth action.

Now can Rodgers inspire his troops during the interval?

Find out here.......

3.40pm: Again, Royals work some lovely triangles. But this time Rosenior's cross is found wanting.

3.32pm: Rodgers' youngsters really are playing some cracking stuff at times, zipping the ball here there and everywhere. But they need a goal for their efforts.

3.27pm: Davies tries his luck from 30-yards, and is only inches with Camp looking worried.

Then Church put a header into Camp's arms from Liam Rosenior's centre during a bright spell for the home side.

3.23pm: Now McGoldrick goes close with a left-footed effort that rolls just wide. He looks pumped up and has already scored at the Mad Stad after netting for Southampton in a 2-1 win here last November.

3.20pm: Cheers from the Reading fans as Crossley gets his cards out to book Luke Chambers for hacking at Robson-Kanu.

Davies whips in the free-kick and Pearce tests Lee Camp from 15-yards.

3.17pm. Let-off for Royals. Church nervously gave the ball away and Majewski let rip with a shot that flew just wide.

3.13pm: The first real shot of the match comes from Forest. David McGoldrick hit one from 20-yards but Adam Federici was right behind it.

3.10pm. Groans from the Reading fans when a Forest player appeared to be time-wasting.

It's pretty even now and Forest are getting stuck in with a few meaty tackles.

3.07pm: Majewski is lucky to get away with just a talking to from referee Phil Crossley after a nasty challenge on Jem Karacan.

Reading have started brightly. They're working the channels well but can't find that killer final ball.

3pm: The noise is deafening as the players emerge from the tunnel. Forest have brought around 2,500 fans and almost fill the south stand. The crowd must be over 20,000 in total - and they're up for it.

But Forest took four points off Royals last season and won here 1-0 in February.

In fact, Reading's last home win was against Wolves in January.

The build-up:

The sun is beating down, the stadium is filling up and the air is thick with expectation.

And surely the most nervous of them all is Royals boss Brendan Rodgers in his first game in charge.

And the team news is in:

Reading: Federici, Rosenior, Cisse, Pearce (c), Bertrand, Karacan, Davies, Tabb, Church, Kebe. Robson-Kanu. Subs: Armstrong, Gunnarsson, Long, Harper, Henry, Hamer, Sigurdsson.

Forest: Camp, Chambers, Morgan, Adebola, Garner, Cohen, Gunter, McGoldrick, McKenna (c), Majewski, Lynch. Subs: Anderson, McGugan, Earnshaw, Tyson, McCleary, Smith, Blackstock.

The big surprise sees Simon Church get the nod up front instead of Shane Long. The young Welshman must have impressed Rodgers over the summer as Long appeared to be in the driving seat after inheriting Kevin Doyle's No.9 shirt.

New signing Matthew Mills is not even on the bench

Looks as though it will be a 4-3-3 formation with Hal Robson-Kanu, Scott Davies and Chelsea loanee Ryan Bertrand making their full debuts.

Hunt brothers Noel and Stephen are injured and James Harper is on the bench.

Harper spoke to Wolves earlier this week but it looks as though a move back to the Premier League has hit a stumbling block.

Nottingham Forest have spent £5 million over the summer, but Rob Earnshaw is only on the bench along with ex-Royal Nathan Tyson.

Their new signings Lee Camp, Chris Gunter, David McGoldrick, Paul McKenna, Dele Adebola and Radoslaw Majewski are all in their starting line-up.

The ground is already half-full as the player go about their pre-match routines.

Alex Pearce will skipper the Reading side today and until new club captain Ivar Ingimarsson has recovered from his knee injury.

It's absolutely roasting in the ground. The sprinklers are on and the pitch looks fantastic, which should suit Rodgers' passing game.

But the heat will prove a real test for the players. Expect lots of drink breaks

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