Reading manager Ruben Selles praised the “intensity” of his young players as they edged out Cheltenham 1-0 in League One.
Selles included four teenagers and three 20-year-olds in his starting line-up, with 18-year-old Caylan Vickers creating what turned out to be the winner in the 33rd minute.
Vickers’ mazy run from deep ended with a looping deflection from Cheltenham midfielder Will Ferry that arced over keeper Luke Southwood into his own goal.
It was relegated Reading’s first league win in 16 games across two divisions.
“I’m very proud of the performance that the team put together,” Selles said. “We knew that we had to play with all that intensity and that’s why I made the team selection.
“In the first half especially, we were exactly where we wanted to be. The team showed character, togetherness and the way that we do things here.
“We’ve been talking about the young players during the whole pre-season and they have been working fantastically from the very beginning.
“We have been annoyed with the situation with the club, when trying to get new players. So we have to work with those that we already have and they have showed how good they are.
“It doesn’t matter whether you are 18 or you are 32, you do all the proper things and you have first place in this team.
“We had to make a game plan that would show our identity and I think that we did that.
“We decided to go with the team that can bring more intensity to the game and it is the first time that we win [in the league] this season.
“We go home with that feeling and also that happiness.”
Struggling Cheltenham have lost all four league and cup matches this season, without scoring a goal.
Head coach Wade Elliott said: “I thought we were excellent in the second half.
“I didn’t think that there was a lot in it in the first half but some of the breaks that are going against us are tough, like the own goal.
“But in the second half I was really proud of the performance. They players left absolutely everything out there.
“I’ve just told them in the dressing-room that, as tough as it is, you just have to put yourselves back on the line to be knocked down again.
“So we have to get round each other and support each other. We can feel sorry for ourselves or get ready to go again.
“If we keep putting ourselves up there, the breaks will fall the other way for us.
“We’re creating enough opportunities but it’s the last little bit [the finishing] that was missing tonight. I thought everything else was good.”
Barcelona must 'work hard' to achieve Champions League glory, says Flick
Hansi Flick tempered expectations of Barcelona's chances of silverware in his first season in charge ahead of facing Red Star Belgrade in the Champions League.
Flick has led Barca to 13 wins from 15 games in all competitions, scoring 50 goals in those games while conceding just 14 times.
Some standout matches have seen Barca thrash Clasico rivals Real Madrid 4-0 while also brushing aside Bayern Munich 4-1 in the Champions League in their last match in the competition.
While Flick understood the fans' excitement after those results, he urged his side to keep their feet on the ground with a long season still in front of them.
"We have to work hard. There are many teams who dream of the same thing, of winning (the Champions League)," Flick said.
"For the moment, we're going to focus on working hard and grinding out, so then we'll see what happens. We have to focus on our goal which is to keep improving.
"A team's form fluctuates a lot over a long season. The important thing is to focus on winning the next match. Sure, after the match against Bayern everything changed.
"But we are just starting. The important thing is how we finish the season. We could say that our goal is to be in the top eight."
Flick, however, insisted he was not surprised by his side's impressive start to the campaign despite enduring a trophyless season last term.
Barca are nine points clear at the top of LaLiga and 11th in the Champions League table ahead of facing Red Star, who are without a win from their three games so far.
"Before we came here we analysed the whole team, every player. We realised that there was very good quality overall," Flick said.
"Another thing to point out is that we wanted to improve how we defend and did small changes in the way we play. The players liked it and they are happy working on it.
"The players play a big role, they are helping us a lot.
"The start was already good on the pre-season in North American and the players are very happy, although there are still many things to improve."
And Barca will be confident of keeping their fine form going against a side that has lost 81% of their matches in the Champions League (P21 W2 D2 L17).
This is the first European meeting between the two sides since October 1996 in the Cup Winners’ Cup, a 1-1 draw with Giovanni cancelling out a Zoran Jovicic's opener for the Serbians.
PSV 4-0 Girona: Dutch side get first win of Champions League
PSV Eindhoven won their first match in the Champions League this season as they thrashed Girona 4-0 at the Philips Stadion on Tuesday.
Ryan Flamingo got the scoring under way after 16 minutes as he turned Malik Tillman's long throw home, despite replays showing that it should have been disallowed as Tillman's foot was over the byline before releasing the ball.
Tillman got himself on the scoresheet 17 minutes later with a fine finish after he arribed into the box unopposed.
Things went from bad to worth for Girona after half-time, with Arnau Martinez receiving a red card 10 minutes into the second half for a second bookable offence.
From then, it was all one-way traffic and PSV might feel aggrieved not to have won by a bigger margin given their glut of second-half chances.
Ismael Saibari was next to put the ball in the back of the net, although his effort was ruled out for a foul in the build-up following a VAR review.
Johan Bakayoko did get PSV's third with seven minutes to go, before a Ladislav Krejci own goal wrapped up the rout in the 88th minute. The result leaves Girona 26th in the table on three points, while PSV are 19th with five points.
Odegaard returns to full Arsenal training ahead of Inter tie
Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard has returned to full training after spending two months out of action with an ankle injury.
Odegaard has missed 12 matches for the Gunners in all competitions after damaging his ankle ligaments against Austria while on international duty with Norway in September.
The 25-year-old midfielder trained with Arsenal ahead of their trip to the San Siro to face Inter in the Champions League on Wednesday.
Mikel Arteta's side have, however, struggled in Odegaard's absence recently, failing to win any of their last three games in the Premier League.
In the seven games that Odegaard has missed in the top-flight, Arsenal's win percentage dropped from 66.7% to 42.9% after going unbeaten in their first three games.
The Gunners have also averaged 1.6 points per game without Odegaard, compared to 2.3 points won with the Norwegian in their ranks.
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