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Stevenage Fans Verdict: Youthful Royals Crash Out Of Carabao Cup

A round up of the best bits of the fans reaction after a young Reading side fell to League Two Stevenage.

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Going into the game on Tuesday I was genuinely expecting Paul Ince to just field the under-23s and a few under-18s. With how stretched the first-team squad is at the moment and the priority clearly and understandably being on the league, I was not expecting Ince to risk any first-team players.

And with that said, I wasn’t really expecting us to win. It would’ve been nice to go through, as ever, but it really didn’t bother me that we lost. And I know there will be fans who agree with me on that and fans who don’t.

It was a good run-out for a lot of the youngsters, some of whom did more than enough to put their hat into the ring a spot on the first-team bench, and we also got to see a new signing in action.

Here's what the fans had to say about the key talking points to come from Tuesday’s loss...

Mamadou Loum

It’s been a long time coming, but on-loan midfielder Mamadou Loum was finally able to make his debut for the club on Tuesday evening, and it looks like he made an impression on the fans immediately.

He will clearly add physicality and strength to our midfield department, but he also showed a couple pieces of silky footwork and looked assured and comfortable on the ball too. Yes it’s very early days in his Reading career, but it looks like he’ll be an astute signing.

The fans were certainly impressed with his showing...

Promising youngsters

As mentioned before, the rotation meant that a lot of younger players got their chance to show Ince whether they were worthy of a spot in the first-team squad or not. Some looked shaky and nervous, understandably so, but there were a few who stood out.

Kelvin Ehibhatiomhan (who grabbed his first goal for the club), Mamadi Camara (who set up that goal beautifully), Jahmari Clarke and young Basil Tuma (what a name by the way) were five that stood out to the fans and who showed serious signs of promise.

Here’s what the fans had to say about the youngsters...

All eyes on the league

Let’s be honest, Ince was always going to prioritise the league over the Carabao Cup and rightly so. Imagine if Ince had gone full strength and ended up with even more players on the treatment table, he would’ve got slaughtered.

It seems the majority of the fans are in the same mindset too, which is good to see. Yes a cup run would’ve been nice, but we’re not in a position to risk even more injuries just to get through to the next round. All focus has to be on the league.

The fans are already looking ahead to the rest of the Championship season...

Conclusion

Cup runs are nice and yes, it’s always horrible to lose football matches, but honestly we have bigger problems than a 2-1 loss to Stevenage in the Carabao Cup to worry about this season.

All eyes simply have to be on the league. It wasn't all doom and gloom either. We got a good look at a few of the younger players who did their chances of getting in and around the first-team squad no harm at all, and Mamadou Loum looked a serious presence in midfield.

Onwards and upwards to Rotherham.

URZ