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Carabao Cup duty returned for the Royals last night with a trip to Plymouth Argyle in the second round, and they didn’t make it easy!
After going behind twice, the Royals eventually ended up winning 4-2, with goals from Josh Barrett and Yakou Meite. The highlight of the evening by far was the return to first team football for Jordan Obita, and hopefully we will see him back in the league very soon.
Jose Gomes admitted it was a tough game, as he spoke to both the official club website and GetReading.
Gomes on the game
“It was a tough game, These games are not easy, but we passed this cup test. My players were serious, professional, and they followed the advice and they fought until the end.
“We made some mistakes, yes. But it is not easy to change 11 players from one game to another. We took this risk.
“And our fans again, fantastic. It was important for us.
“A different formation, different players, but we never gave up. We always believed that it was possible to turn the game. We were losing, but at 2-1 down we did really well. I am happy for them.”
Gomes on Josh Barrett’s first senior goals
“Josh played well and scored two fantastic goals at important moments,
“He is the kind of player who can show different things when you don’t expect it. He is a talented player.
“It was a good result and the team played well. These players did a great job. I am happy with all of them. We showed that we are able to go on growing and to be stronger tactically, because it was a tactical game today.”
Gomes on players that stood out
“We can talk about Barrett and Meite but my special words are for Obita because of his situation of not playing for two years for the first team, and the centre-backs Osho and Odimayo who I knew from the beginning would do well.
“I told them they would be one v one all the time but they didn’t lose any challenges. It was amazing and I am very happy with them.
“We started with five or six players from the U23s and this is very good for the club. And it’s important for my team because we are in a good moment and the players who are playing regularly cannot be comfortable in their position because if they relax there are players who can take their place.
“This is the best thing that can happen to a manager - this kind of competition.”
Gomes on making 11 changes
“Everybody felt tired after the Huddersfield game. We didn’t respect the Carabao Cup so we picked the players who were in the best moment for the game.
“They showed they were ready to take the challenge. We must use this week to let the others rest to prepare for the game on Saturday.”
Gomes on that winning environment
“We can only get good results when you go into each game preparing to give your maximum. If you relax one bit you can easily be dead for your opponent.”