Royals striker Simon Church made his debut for the full Welsh team last Friday evening, and the 20-year-old said making his bow for his country was simply unbelievable.

The frontman played the last 30 minutes of Wales' 1-0 win over Estonia in Llanelli, and drew praise from boss John Toshack for an all-action display.

Simon told readingfc.co.uk, "It was unbelievable! I got more time on the pitch than I thought I would; I really enjoyed it.

"It's the best thing that's happened to me so far and hopefully I can show what I've got and stay in contention."

Church actually had the ball in the net just seconds after coming on - only to pick up a booking for carrying on after the referee had blown his whistle!

He explained, "I'd only just come on, it opened up for me so I gambled on it and just stuck it in. He pulled me back and gave me a yellow which I thought was a bit strange given some of the tackles that had gone on!"

Toshack said after the game that he was particularly impressed with Simon, and our striker could now start in a World Cup qualifier away in Azerbaijan on Saturday with Ched Evans ruled out through injury.

"It was great to hear [what the manager said] and hopefully I can get my chance on the biggest stage.

"There could be a space open now and hopefully I've done all I can to get a chance for Saturday, maybe starting and maybe coming off the bench."

It has been a fantastic past couple of weeks for the Academy graduate, having made his first Reading start in the play-off semi-final second leg against Burnley.

He said, "The last few weeks have been excellent. I made my debut for Reading in the biggest game, then straight after that I've been preparing for internationals.

"It's all been happening in the last couple of weeks and it's been worth waiting for."