Ruben Selles: Reading Did A ‘Fantastic Job’ Against Stevenage

The Royals celebrated their second win of the week with an excellent 2-0 victory against Stevenage at the SCL Stadium on Saturday. These were our first back-to-back wins in 2023 and first back-to-back clean sheets in a year, with Ruben Selles again sticking with the youngsters from Tuesday evening.

Nathan Thompson was sent off for the visitors in the first half, leaving them with lots of work to do. Kelvin Ehibhatiomhan scored just before half time to put Reading ahead, and he doubled our lead in the second half to give the Royals a well deserved three points.

Manager Selles was very happy with the performance. Here is what he had to say; he spoke to the official club website and Reading Chronicle.

Selles on the victory

“The boys did a fantastic job. We showed part of the football that we want to be.

“We forced situations – we knew that Stevenage were doing a really good job and had a fantastic start to the season, and we needed to respect that. But we had a clear game plan and the boys executed it perfectly. And we are happy for that.

“When you get the lead, it is more difficult to lose – that is just statistically true even in League One. We want to be active, create situations, and go for it – that’s what we did.

“We work to win games. No matter who is the opponent. We respect everybody, but our job is to win games. Even when we were not winning, we working to compete.

“And now that that we have some results, we just have to remember that it is only the hard work for us that is giving us the victories. So we need to continue – take some rest in the next couple of days and go for it again.”

Selles on Ehibhatiomhan and the team performance

“It’s not just about the goals that Kelvin scored today – he has been doing a very good job for us. The way that he moves, the way that he is able to get rid of the centre-backs, the way that he presses and is commanding the team in energy levels from the very beginning.

“The rest of the team is at the same level, so it is not only him. They are creating the situations for him, and in a corner kick like today and in a second action from the goalkeeper… we are happy for him! But it is a team performance.”

Selles on dealing with Stevenage’s physicality

“It’s a challenge. Last game it was a similar approach from the opponent. We need to get used to that. The team selection is according to that and according to what the opponent can propose and how we match their abilities.

“The players on the pitch, the players who didn’t come on the pitch and the players supporting the team did a good job and we were able to put our football stamp on the game.”

Selles on Lewis Wing’s absence

“During the last game, he had an episode in one part of his quad. He carried on playing but when he finished the scan showed he will be out for the next couple of games.”