Pre-Season Draw And Karacan Named Captain

21 July 2014
By Hob Nob Anyone?

While the takeover of the club still remains unconfirmed, Nigel Adkins has got back to work as he trys to work out what he can do with the players left available. Eleven players have now left during the summer with no new signings, as academy players are expected to step up into the first team. Adkins has now had two friendlies to work with the squad. This weekend the Royals picked up a 1-1 draw at Yeovil. The game was goalless at half time before Pogrebnyak put Reading ahead after the break as he headed home Ryan Edwards' cross. Reading had other chances during a reasonable first half but the single goal was not enough for victory as the home side equalised with twenty minutes left to play. McCarthy and Federici had a half each in goal before the Royals swapped out the rest of the team after an hour had been played.
Reading team (first 60 minutes):
McCarthy (Federici 46), Gunter, Pearce, Morrison, Obita, Hector, Akpan, Edwards, Taylor, Blackman, Pogrebnyak.
Reading team (last half an hour):
Federici, Long, Hyam, Cooper, Cummings, Tshibola, Kuhl, Fosu, Kelly, Stacey, Robson-Kanu.

Last week Reading picked up a 1-0 victory at Exeter as Reading's pre-season campaign got underway. In an uneventful game, Ryan Edwards scored the only goal of the match during the first half. Striker Edwards, who was out on loan last season but could feature this season due to the slimmed down squad, scored after seven minutes from a rare chance. Adkins, still unsure what he can do in the transfer market as he awaits confirmation of Reading's new ownership, got to try out most of the existing squad after fielding two different sides in each half. Players used: Federici, Gunter, Morrison, Hector, Obita, Williams, Taylor, Kuhl, Edwards, Blackman, Pogrebnyak, Anderson, Kelly, Sweeney, Pearce, Cummings, Akpan, Tshibola, Tanner, Long, Griffin, Stacey.

Meanwhile Jem Karacan has been named as club captain for the new season. Twenty five year old Karacan was limited to just seven appearances early last season after being ruled out by injury, but is hoping to make a big contribution this season. Karacan signed professional terms with Reading in the summer of 2007 and has made well over 150 appearances for the Royals despite injuries.

Share this article: