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As Jaap Stam prepares his Reading squad for tonight's final pre-season friendly with Bournemouth, he'll be without young defender Sean Long who's made a temporary switch to Cambridge United.
Long has been around the fringes of the first team squad for the past couple of seasons but the 21-year-old has never quite been able to break into the side despite a lack of senior competition in the full-back positions. The Irishman ended last season out on loan at Luton but on his return to the club found himself behind Tennai Watson and Rob Dickie in the pecking order with Chris Gunter having an extended post-Euro 2016 summer.
The defender has signed an initial six-month loan deal and regular league football will be a great opportunity for a player who's starting to run out of time to establish himself with Reading.
So all the best on loan Sean and we'll keep you updated with his progress throughout the season in our Loan Reports.