Coach Shawn Liotta and his RiverRats don't plan on taking in a minor-league baseball game or making a trip to the old grave markers at the 250-year-old Trinity Lutheran Church or checking out the legendary VF Outlet when they visit Reading.

		At a glance Matchup: RiverRats (7-7) vs. Reading Express (14-2). When: 7 p.m. today. Where: Sovereign Center, Reading, Pa. What's at stake: Winner advances to second round of the American Indoor Football Association playoffs. Key players: RiverRats (QB David Dinkins, WR Mark Thomas, LB T.J. Carden, DL Phil Tillman); Express (QB Tom Stetzer, WRs Ian Cooper and Carmelo Ocasio, DB Armar Watson).

The RiverRats will be focusing on their opponent, the Reading Express, when the teams meet in the first round of the American Indoor Football Association playoffs at 7 p.m. today at Sovereign Center.

"We're not going there to take in the sights," Liotta said of the RiverRats (7-7), who reached the playoffs in their inaugural season as the fourth seed in the North Division.

Reading, which defeated the RiverRats in the regular season, 57-40 and 35-28, is 14-2 and seeded No. 1.

"The one big positive for us is that all the pressure is on them," Liotta said. "We're the visitors, no one gives us a chance. They're the No. 1 seed and they're at home."

The Express scoring the winning touchdown in the 35-28 victory on Isaiah Greer's 2-yard run with 5:40 left in the fourth quarter and took advantage of six turnovers in the 57-40 win.

"We know that to advance there is no margin for error," Liotta said. "We can't take possessions off."

The RiverRats, idle this past week, expect to have several starters available who were out with injuries in a 69-26 defeat against the Huntington Heroes in the final game of the regular season.

But the RiverRats will be without wide receiver Beau Gibbs, an All-North Division player who has a hand injury.

The loss of Gibbs will put more of a load on wideout Marko Thomas (48 catches, 13 TDs), of Penn-Trafford High School and Geneva College. The catalyst for the RiverRats' offense is quarterback David Dinkins, of Schenley High School and Morehead State, who accounted for 57 touchdowns. He passed for 1,917 yards and 47 touchdowns, rushed for seven touchdowns and caught three touchdown passes.

"He's an athlete who is above the level of the AIFA," Liotta said of the 6-foot-2, 230-pound Dinkins.

Reading boasts a number of superior athletes, led by quarterback Tom Stetzer, who has completed 55.5 percent of his passes for 2,902 yards and 65 touchdowns. He has been intercepted 13 times. His favorite receivers are Ian Cooper (99 catches, 935 yards, 20 TDs) and Carmelo Ocasio (75 catches, 842 yards, 22 TDs), a former IUP standout who joined the team late and played in 11 games.

Defensively, the Express is led by Amar Watson, a former Duquesne University standout who has team highs with eight interceptions, one returned for a touchdown, and 20 kickoff returns with a 22.6-yard average. He returned his a fumble recovery 32 yards for a touchdown.

"If we stay loose, focus, protect our quarterback and minimize mental errors," Liotta said, "then I think we've got a chance."