Reading boss Paul Ince joked that he was 'quicker than both' Shane Long and Bristol City's Timm Klose in the build-up to Andy Carroll's stoppage time strike on Saturday.

After Mamadou Loum's header shortly after half-time, it wasn't until deep into stoppage time that the ball broke kindly for midfielder Jeff Hendrick.

The Republic of Ireland international threaded a ball for Long, who out-muscled former Norwich City defender Klose before crossing for the former England international to round-off a good win.

Joking after the game, former England captain Ince could barely contain his laughter at the sight of 35-year-old Long and 34-year-old Klose chasing down the lost cause.

"He played the ball down to Shane [Long] and I thought I was quicker than both of them two," he chuckled. "Who’s going to get there first? Shane is so cute and clever, and you look for him to have a wise-head and pick the right pass. That’s what he did. It was a great finish because it was a touch wide. It’s important when you make those subs that they work, so it’s a great result for us."

Arguably the most stacked position when it comes to depth, Ince has Carroll, Long, Yakou Meite and Lucas Joao to choose from in the striking department- not to mention Academy graduate Kelvin Ehibhatiomhan.

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Discussing his option, he says it's now down to him to pick the right ones.

"He doesn’t have to prove any point, Shane Long," he started. "He’s had a fantastic career, he doesn’t have to prove anything to me. We’ve got four centre-forwards, it’s about picking the right ones. You forget Shane’s 35. Andy Carroll’s not even 65 per cent fit, Yak’s just come back, so the good thing about it is you can kind of swap and change, take people off, bring people on and you know what you’re going to get from Shane, what you’re going to get from Carroll, they’re honest, they’ll give you everything they’ve got and that’s all you want."