George Puscas back from injury and ready to make his mark in Reading’s promotion push

George Puscas has been in and out for Reading for much of the season largely through injuries, but last night against Blackburn Rovers he showed just how important he can be for his side in the run-in.

He scored the all-important goal in the 1-0 win over Rovers at the Madejski Stadium to keep the Royals well in the top six with the games running out for the chasing pack.

Puscas netted his third league strike of the season following a return to the starting line up after being picked out by Lucas Joao unmarked in the box to help the Royals secure their first home win since the end of January.

The Romanian international has had a really up and down season, featuring just 13 times for the club, whilst also making a further six appearances for his country.

The goal against Rovers was his first league strike since October after having some injury troubles and the form of other players have kept him out the side but he looked back at his best against Tony Mowbray’s men.

He played with a real swagger and confidence like a player who had been scoring goals all season, this was shown when he nearly had a contender for the goal of the season, attempting an audacious effort from long range with Thomas Kaminski well off his line, with the effort going narrowly over the crossbar.

The 24-year-old is still developing as a player following his move from Palermo in 2019, but his goal record is improving for the Royals having netted 15 goals in his 50 league outings to date.

Numerous players have had impacts on the Royals this season but it was Puscas who was the standout, using his pace and drive with the ball all evening and is something that should see him remain in the side (injury dependent) between now and the end of the season.

Reading boss Veljko Paunovic spoke about the importance of having the 24-year-old forward back involved with the side in his post-match press conference.

“He is an option now and he allows us to be more creative. And he allows us to rest people as well.

“I’m also very happy for Puscas after he came back from a long injury and surgery – not only because of his goal but because he worked hard to get to the level where he can play 90 minutes and he goes us more options in attack.

“And he allows us to be more creative with our ideas.”

The Royals have been particularly reliant on João who has 20 strikes to his name this season, 14 more than any teammate. So to have Puscas back in and around the team as an option will do wonders to the Berkshire club’s push to make a return to the Premier League.

He was one of the standout performers last season netting 12 times in the Championship and if he can get anywhere close to that figure between now and the end of the season he is going to be a great option for Paunovic to call upon, particularly with the games coming so thick and fast at the moment.

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