Ruben Selles Praises Reading Youth In ‘Quite Even’ Cheltenham Loss
The gaffer thought his heavily under-21 side put in a good performance in Tuesday’s EFL Trophy defeat.
The Royals made six changes from the weekend for our EFL Trophy fixture against Cheltenham Town at the EV Charger Points Stadium.
The home side scored in the 78th minute through Tom Pett to secure the win. Manager Ruben Selles felt that it was a good challenge for his young side. Here is what he had to say, he spoke to the Reading Chronicle.
Selles on the performance
“It was a very good challenge for us. We knew that we needed to rotate the team and the first half, especially the first 15-20 mins, it took us time to adjust and get the physicality of the game, but we started the second half well and tried to put pressure and attack the spaces in behind.
“We had a couple of situations where we should have scored a goal and conceded a situation we should have defended better. I think it was a good performance, but we came here for a victory, and we didn’t get it.”
Selles on the challenge for our youngsters
“When they compete in the PL2, the best league in the country, and competing against teams like Tottenham, Chelsea, Manchester United and Manchester City, they are in-possession-based teams.
“Here, it was going to be a lot of contact and second actions where you need to be good in possession and get your first touch properly or the pressure is coming. It is a little bit different, but it is good for them to get some exposure.”
Selles on squad rotation
“We mix a lot of things. We needed to rotate the lineup, we haven’t been able to get any player into the building, other than Chem Campell, for 11 months. They are working hard with Noel and with us so sometimes we have points where we make mistakes but through that experience and the way they train they were ready today.
“It was quite even, and they showed what they can do - they showed it on the weekend against Fleetwood too. We just need to continuing developing them and hopefully they will continue to grow with us.”