Reading FC midfielder Ben Elliott reflected on a difficult season for the club and analysed his progress as a player.
Having joined the Royals last summer from Chelsea’s academy, Elliott insists that it was ‘definitely’ the right decision to make, despite it being a tough campaign off the field for the club.
“I’ve matured as a player, it’s very different to academy football where everyone wants to play out from the back,” said Elliott.
“Here it’s a reality check, everyone has different styles of play and I’ve learnt a lot. I think I’ve improved as a player and I want to keep improving and do even better next season.
“Everything we have had to face has brought us together and you can see that togetherness in the team which helped us push on in the last few months.
“It was a difficult decision, but in the end it was the right decision for me to take that step into the men’s game. It’s what I had to do and I’ve improved as a player because of it.
“We’ve got through some tough times but hopefully things are on the up and I’m excited for the future.
“It’s been a draining season with some ups and downs. It’s been a great experience and I don’t think we can have as many obstacles as we did this season so I feel like everyone will have learnt a lot and will be ready for anything that comes in our careers.”
Having managed to survive relegation from League One last campaign, Elliott is hoping for bigger things ahead having put in some excellent displays in central midfielder towards the end of the season.
He continued: ”It’s all been a good experience for me and I’ll embrace it. I’ll play wherever the manager puts me and try and do a job to help the team.
“Obviously I’m more comfortable in the middle, but as a football player you;ve got to be ready to play wherever the manager puts you.
“It was nice to hit form in the business end of the season then I’ll work hard in the summer, do some good training and hopefully come back even better.”
