Shola starts as lone striker at Reading

SHOLA Ameobi returns to Newcastle's side as a lone centre-forward as the Magpies attempt to claim three of the four points they need to secure the Championship title at Reading. Ameobi, who scored a hat-trick against the Royals in Newcastle's opening home game of the season, makes his first start for three matches at the Madejski Stadium. Chris Hughton has made three changes to the side that beat Blackpool 4-1 at the weekend, with full-back Ryan Taylor and midfielder Alan Smith also returning to the starting line-up. Tamas Kadar, Peter Lovenkrands and Andy Carroll are the players to make way, with Jose Enrique named amongst the substitutes after recovering from injury. READING (4-4-2): Federici; Griffin, Gunnarsson, Pearce, Bertrand; Kebe, Tabb, Howard, McAnuff; Long, Sigurdsson. Subs: Hamer (gk), Cisse, Henry, Church, Robson-Kanu, Karacan, Hamer, Rasiak. NEWCASTLE (4-4-1-1): Harper; R Taylor, Coloccini, Williamson, Simpson; Routledge, Smith, Guthrie, Gutierrez; Nolan; Ameobi. Subs: Krul (gk), Enrique, Barton, Pancrate, Lovenkrands, Carroll, Best.

Source: Northern_Echo