Reading FC

Sky’s the limit for Ryan Bertrand

By Matthew Sadler
November 20, 2009

Ryan Bertrand has the potential to become one of the best left-backs in England, according to boss Brendan Rodgers.

Bertrand has impressed since joining on a season-long loan deal from Chelsea and his recent performances earned him a start for Stuart Pearce’s England Under-21 side in their 1-0 win over Portugal.

Rodgers said: “He’s going to be a top talent.

“He’s one of the few left-sided players who is good defensively and can go forward.

“He played well in the game against Portugal and in the qualifier (against Lithuania).

“I know what he can do and he’s been a big hit with the supporters here and they really like him because he’s 100-per-cent committed and is a big possibility for the future.

“He loves it here and he feels really at home and he’s got a manager who supports him 100 per cent.”

Bertrand suffered no ill effects from his international exploits and will retain his place in Royals’ starting line-up for tomorrow’s clash against Blackpool (3pm kick-off).

The meeting with the Seasiders presents Reading with an opportunity to end their 18-game winless run at Madejski Stadium.

But Rodgers insists Royals are continuing to improve.

He said: “We’ve had some positive results and some positive performances without the results.

“There’s still work left for the future because we need to continue our improvement and ensure that where the results haven’t been great we keep the high peformance levels up and then look at ways to end this home run.

“We need to play with a little bit more speed and intensity at home.

“We’re controlling the games and we’re very confident that we can climb that table.

“We were hoping that it would come to an end long before now, but it hasn’t and every home game now is a game that will test us to every capacity because we have to be physically and mentally tough.

“Every game at home gives us an opportunity and we won’t be here for a couple of weeks after tomorrow so we really hope for a positive result.”

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no fred - i think thats a lovely option to have in this division

ajr111, swindon
20/11/2009 at 14:58

Agree AJR11, sometimes as a player you have to take a step back to make another one forward and lets face it he's better playing all the time at RFC than silly reserve games at chelsea. Look at a certain Steve Sidwell dropped down a league OR 2 to learn his trade and is now a regular at a decent premiership club.

We have the 2 best left backs in the division IMO, be interested to see what happens when CA is fully fit. If it was my decision i'd slot CA back in at left back and mover RB to left midfield. Just my opinion don't shoot me down..