Reading Under-21 boss Noel Hunt labelled teenage sensation Basil Tuma 'a breath of fresh air' after he netted on Monday against Burnley.

The 17-year-old burst onto the scene last week, playing for Paul Ince's first team against Stevenage in the Carabao Cup.

The former Eton College head boy found the net just before half-time after Jahmari Clarke had opened the scoring against the Clarets.

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Speaking to the media after the win, the former Royals said: "He’s a breath of fresh air. He’s a fantastic kid that has a total positive outlook on the game. I love that every negative action sparks a positive reaction. He goes and gets after people and chases them down, he’s everything you want in a player. We can now fine tune his game but to have them attributes at the start gives you a hell of a chance. He’s fantastic kid, a very intelligent boy and he sparks off so many presses for us.

"He's under 18. We’ve got four or five under 18s, five or six 18-year-olds on the pitch, a few 19-year-olds and one 20-year-old so we are relatively young still in a league where you can play five over aged players. Last week was a great education for our boys to play Oli McBurnie, who is a £20m striker. It’s good learning all round."

With an injury crisis ravaging the first team squad, the majority who played on Monday have already experienced first team football with Ince's squad.

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Rather than moan about losing some of his key players for Under-21 matches, Hunt's view is quite the opposite.

"Right now, it’s about the first team, and whatever they need they have to have," he started. "I’ve been in the game long enough to understand that and it’s great for the boys to get exposure and help the first team train and be involved. That has a different impact on us, but it gives the opportunity to the younger ones to come and train with us so there’s both ways of looking at it. There are opportunities everywhere, for the boys that go into the first team and the boys that go into the Under-21s, it’s a positive place to be.

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"If you look at the players the first team have, Tom Ince, Shane Long, Jeff Hendrick, they will be improving our boys all the time and speaking to them and trying to help them through so with the gaffer there, Alex, James, they’re in good hands and the more exposure they get the better."