Watford loanee Tom Dele-Bashiru made his Royals debut last night, coming on in the second half of the 3-2 defeat to Bristol City.

Despite the score line, the 20-year-old can be really pleased with how he performed on his first Royals performance.

In the first half, the creative midfielders looked a little static and unwilling to carry the ball forward at times.

This left little for Femi Azeez and George Puscas to work with, both of whom made the most of the limited service.

With the introduction of Dele-Bashiru however, things changed for the better.

His close control and nimbleness on the ball allowed him to slip through challenges and open the play up in congested zones of the pitch.

This then allowed John Swift to begin to exert more of an influence on proceedings from the midfield.

Dele-Bashiru also displayed good speed to burst past tackles and create opportunities from wide areas.

His final ball needs a bit of work and he was guilty at times of trying to take on one too many defenders, but this hunger to improve and make an impression should stand the youngster in good stead.

It was a promising first appearance and hopefully the first of many in the blue and white hoops for the Nigerian midfielder.