Ruben Selles Hails Reading’s ‘Powerful’ Fleetwood Town Performance

The Reading manager was pleased with his team’s performance in a first-round FA Cup win over Fleetwood.

The Royals picked up a good 2-0 victory against League Two Fleetwood Town in the first round of the FA Cup at the SCL Stadium on Saturday. A goal from Tyler Bindon and an own goal secured our place in the hat for the second round.

Here is what manager Ruben Selles had to say. He spoke to the Reading Chronicle.

Selles on the performance

“We were powerful from the beginning of the game. I think the team played in our style - were aggressive in the pressure and tried to play vertically in possession.

“We scored two goals and had chances to close the game earlier - they had a couple that David [Button] kept away. I think it was a really good performance.”

Selles on giving younger players a chance

“We don’t give minutes to the youngsters because we want to give them minutes, we give them minutes because they’re working really hard in training and pushing the team to the next level.

“For them to continue making steps in the cup, making appearances in front of our fans is a part of the learning. They are good players and are working really hard so they are getting every opportunity and doing the best they can.

“We have a lot of senior players that are playing well for us and a lot of youngsters that are working hard to get the opportunity. We came from a period of four games in 10 days, so it was not the best idea to have a tired team on the pitch with the risk of injury.

“The ones on the pitch are working hard so it was not a difficult decision, and we gave ourselves the best chance to win.”

Selles on Kelvin Ehibhatiomhan

“He is going to be three months out. It is a severe injury in a tendon in the hip. It is 12 weeks. It’s bad news.”

Selles on Tuesday’s EFL Cup fixture

“We will have a competitive team out like today. Potentially a team similar to today with maybe a couple of changes. We have the idea of having a fresh team, getting three points in the group and qualifying for the next round.”