Reading manager Ruben Selles heaped praise on Kelvin Ehibhatiomhan as his difference making substitute appearance helped the Royals pick up a point against Oxford United.
Ehibhatiomhan’s work and cross down the left forced an own goal from Ciaron Brown to cancel out Mark Harris’ first-half opener.
“They (the subs) are doing a great job,” said Selles.
“Kelvin had a chance with us when he was playing and getting his minutes, but we changed the system and Sam Smith came into the team.
“He has struggled to get those minutes but as a sub and times he went on the pitch in the last month he’s been exceptional and changed the dynamic of the game.
“Now the next step for him is to do the same when he starts.
“We know the game is a squad game and that those on the bench would make a difference, so it happened.
“We came here to get the three points. I think the performance was there in some moments of the game. A point is fair for the game.
“We ended really well, but the flavour is that in the last five or 10 minutes, we could have got the second goal.”
Selles also gave an update on the back injury to Tom Holmes which saw him miss out on the squad.
He said: “It is a bit tricky because he has a partial fracture. It is about mobility and how much he can support playing with the pain.
“A normal person takes six weeks, but a normal person can take much longer. I don’t know if he will make Stevenage. It is a situation where we are waiting every day.
“It is not a fracture that will need a lot of rest, or we need to stop him, he just needs to get the symptoms of the first days’ pain out of his system and mobility. It is a very unusual injury, but we are taking it daily.”
