Louie and Caylan's key talking points from Monday night's affair
Louie Holzman and Caylan Vickers shared a similar sentiment after Monday night’s 2-2 draw with Aston Villa U23 – that the Royals could easily have taken the points were it not for a few missed opportunities.
Kelvin Ehibhatiomhan scored twice as Mehmet Ali’s side held the Villans, on a night plenty of chances were created at the Select Car Leasing Stadium.
Central defender Holzman made his 11th appearance of the season in all competitions for the U23s on Monday, and he’s hoping the team can turn these draws into triumphs by being more clinical in the final third.
He said: “I thought we played well at times, played how we wanted to play – but it was disappointing to give away two goals, especially one so late on.
“We definitely could have had more goals; we just need to take our chances.
Almost the scorer of a brilliant solo effort on the night, Holzman revealed he’s no stranger to finding the back of the net – but he wants to be doing it on a more regular basis from the back.
He added: “I really want to get a goal soon – I used to score a lot of goals for a centre-back, but I haven’t scored for a while so I’m hoping to get back on the scoresheet.
“There was definitely a lot of good stuff, Kelvin got two goals which was good for him – he’s needed that. We just need to stop conceding as many.”
The likes of Jahmari Clarke, Mamadi Camara and Tyrell Ashcroft returned to the U23s eleven against Villa, fresh from making big contributions to first-team fixtures during the week – for Holzman that’s just extra motivation to follow that same pathway.
“It helps lift the team massively having them in with us, the things they learn from first-team players, the leadership skills, it makes a big difference.
They bring the quality, and that helps. We don’t usually get to play teams like Derby as they’re in the division above, so we’ll see what happens next week (in the Premier League Cup)” he continued.
While for Vickers, he started at U23s level for just the second time this season, and at just 16 years of age, he’s loving getting to pit himself against everyone he faces in the Premier League 2.
He said: “It’s disappointing we didn’t win because there were a few good bits. We all feel we could have got an extra goal, we missed a few opportunities to get the three points.
“I’m loving it, I just want to keep progressing and playing more.”
Like Holzman, Vickers sees those players making their mark on the senior set-up as major inspirations.
He finished: “Some of them, playing in the first-team, they’re good inspirations. They all look confident and want to play – it’s good to have them.”