Church feels he can fill Long’s boots

Reading striker Simon Church has said he feels he can be the answer the Shane Long’s missing void that has seen the team struggle for goals in recent games.

The Welsh international started alongside Noel Hunt and opened the scoring in the 2-0 win over Doncaster on Saturday and put in a man-of-the-match performance to end the Royals’ baron run of late.

Church feels he has the potential to fill the boots of last season’s 25-goal forward. He told the Reading Post:’I wanted to hit the ground running in pre-season and prove to the manager and everybody that I was ready to step up and fill the hole that Shane left.’

The 22-year old had a solid start to pre-season before picking up a thigh injury which ruled him out for a month. ‘It’s been a frustrating start for me with injuries and everything’.

Church also had reserved praise for the fans in their win, saying they inspired the team to perform better after becoming increasingly frustrated following past home performances against Watford and Barnsley.

‘Today the fans were brilliant, they were right behind us to the end and that really helped. You saw how loud they were today, that’s what spurs us on. It drives you, it gets the adrenalin going and it gives you a great lift.’