Director Of Football Nick Hammond believes that the professional contracts for six youth players mark significant signings for the Royals.

Simon Church, Viktor Illugason, Jem Karacan, Hal Robson-Kanu have penned two year deals, while Adam Bygrave & Gylfi Sigurdsson have signed for one year.

Nick told readingfc.co.uk, "These are significant signings and the fact that we've made this commitment to so many young players demonstrates the quality that is now coming through our Academy."

Our under 18s finished second in their league, while the reserves won both the regional and national titles, and Nick says these are positive times.

"The performances of our youth and reserve teams last season is a really positive sign for the future, and there has been some great work done by Eamonn Dolan in nurturing these talents.

"The boys now face a very tough challenge to break into a Premiership squad, but we're hopeful they will continue to progress."