By Charles Watts
Kwesi Appiah gave Reading something they had been missing
I’ll hold my hands up here and admit that prior to Saturday’s game, I had yet to be impressed by the Crystal Palace striker.
I had seen nothing to suggest that the 24-year-old, who had been playing in League 2 earlier in the season, had the ability to cut it at Championship level.
But he was excellent at the iPro Stadium and he gave Reading something they have been desperately lacking up front - pace.
From the moment he sped away from the Derby defence to open the scoring inside two minutes, he was a constant handful.
Playing on the shoulders of the back four, he ran the channels well and was always an outlet. He got Reading up the pitch quickly and linked up superbly with Jem Karacan, who was operating just behind.
Is Appiah the long-term answer? I’m still not sure. But Reading must look for a striker with his sort of attributes in the summer.
Tariqe Fosu looks a hugely exciting talent
From the moment Tariqe Fosu replaced Jack Stacey on the half hour mark at the iPro Stadium, he looked like he belonged at this level.
There were no nerves, he simply went out on to the pitch and played without fear. He looked like a player who had total belief in his own ability.
When Derby triumphed so comfortably at Madejski Stadium back in October, young Liverpool loanee Jordan Ibe was hugely impressive for the Rams.
And Fosu’s performance in the east Midlands was somewhat similar. Whenever he got the ball, his first thought was to attack, to run at the Derby defence.
Yes there were a couple of mistakes, maybe he should have passed when he opted to shoot early in the second half. But all in all, it was very impressive senior debut.
He’s the latest academy product to get a taste of the first-team and, by yesterday’s evidence, we could be seeing a lot of more of him next season.