Reading's 3-0 victory over Blackburn Rovers on Wednesday night illustrated one of football's golden rules – never, ever, bet on a midweek Championship fixture.
Blackburn arrived at the Madejski boasting the division's only 100 percent record, and fresh from a 2-1 win over West Brom. Reading had just been humiliated 4-0 by newly promoted Rotherham. Yet Paul Ince's Royals dominated, from start to finish.
You can have all the badges and philosophies in the world, but in a league where the turnaround between games is so rapid, results often boil down to which team has recovered the best, and which manager has squeezed in some vaguely adequate preparation. Throw in a higher propensity for mistakes when limbs are tired and, well, it's anyone's guess.
