Reading boss Ruben Selles has called on his young players, namely Jayden Wareham and Zane Monlouis, to continue improving and working hard following their professional debuts on Tuesday.
Monlouis, a deadline day arrival from Arsenal, and Wareham both came on during the closing stages of Tuesday's 1-1 draw at Fleetwood Town- a first league appearance in their young careers.
Wareham, a regular on the bench this season, has featured for the Royals in EFL Trophy action and is a star performer for Noel Hunt's Under-23s outfit.
So happy to make my league debut hats off to all the fans who made the long widweek trip
— Jayden Wareham (@JaydenWareham) February 15, 2024
We go again saturday 🩶 pic.twitter.com/GmCYoo0rVQ
Speaking on the impact of the teenagers and their performances, Selles said: "Zane came in on that position as a centre-back who can play right-back. He is tall, defensively good and has been working with us for a couple of weeks. Jayden is a striker who has been at the club the entire season and we needed some fresh legs up front. He did his job and we will continue working with them and educating them to keep them energetic for us in the key moments. Their impact was okay, I don’t think their introduction made any impact on that [late goal], so you need to keep working with those boys and they need to keep learning."
Both have strong upbringings in football, having risen through the ranks with the likes of Arsenal, Chelsea and Queen's Park Rangers and are likely to be key players in the squad for the run-in with depth not a strong suit of the current side.
Only 11 senior outfield players were named in the club's EFL squad list, with clubs allowed to name up to 21.
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