'He has huge talent' – Reading boss Paunovic in awe of Fulham-slaying Ejaria

Manager Veljko Paunovic was full of praise for by Ovie Ejaria’s performance in Reading’s 2-1 away victory over Fulham in the EFL Championship on Saturday.

Still basking in the euphoria of their 3-1 triumph over Peterborough United last time out, the Berkshire-based outfit travelled to London with the aim of extending their fine run against the Cottagers.

That ambition was achieved with the former England youth international of Nigerian descent getting the goals while the hosts got their only strike through substitute Rodrigo Muniz.

After full-time, Ejaria walked home with the man-of-the-match award to the delight of his Serbian boss, who waxed lyrical about his notable act and the rest of his team.

"Ovie put in an amazing performance – we see that in training from him all the time and we encourage him to show it in the game more. He has huge talent,” Paunovic was quoted by the club website.

"And in that second half, some of the players were at their limit, physically. But they put it all out there.

“It was a fantastic game, a great day and a fantastic atmosphere. We executed our plan very well. And I’m very happy with the performance of our team.

“Fulham played very, very good football and it was hard. But with grit and determination, character and composure and good execution of our game plan, we managed to get this very important win for us – especially in a week when we have picked up seven points in total.”

Reading welcome Middlesbrough to the Select Car Leasing Stadium in their next league outing and the Serbian has shifted his focus to Neil Warnock’s Boro.

“We are starting to regroup and get better,” he continued.

“We now have a full week to prepare for the next game against Middlesbrough at home. And we now have to start focusing ourselves, from game to game.

“But we have our confidence back, we have our identity back, and we can look to improve and look forward to the next game.”

Ejaria saw every minute of action alongside Tom Dele-Bashiru, Chelsea loanee Baba Rahman and Andy Yiadom.

Even at the result, Reading are 14th on the Championship table having accrued 10 points from eight league matches.