Fulham 2 (Cumber 17, Ehui 70)
Reading 0

Glen Little played the final 30 minutes as the reserves went down 2-0 away to Fulham on Tuesday evening.

It was the winger's first appearance in a Reading shirt for almost a year, and while his full fitness is certainly not there yet, he showed some lovely touches out on the right.

Unfortunately, it was a rather insipid game at Motspur Park, and Brian McDermott's men never really got going until after they went 2-0 behind midway through the second half. 

The introduction of Little and young Bulgarian striker Radoslav Vasilev gave us more of a cutting edge, but it was too much of a mountain to climb, and our hopes of taking the reserve league title have been severely hit.

Graeme Murty got 90 minutes under his belt as he made a welcome comeback from a knee problem.

Look out for Reading World 's full video highlights on Wednesday, as well as a picture special.

Reading: Federici; Murty, De La Cruz (c), Duberry, Sonko; Hateley, Sigurdsson, Convey, Bozanic (Little 62); Bossman (Vasilev 68), Long
Subs: Andersen, Kelly, Golbourne

Fulham: Warner; Omozusi, Anderson, Leijer, Stefanovic;  Milsom, Smertin, Cumber (Smith 63), Ashton (Thompson 88); Ehui, Kamara
Subs: Etheridge, Hall

First half
With only a minute on the clock, debutant frontman Kelvin Bossman had a good sight of goal for Reading, but home keeper Tony Warner did well at the back post after Bobby Convey crossed from the right hand side.

Despite that early flurry, Reading were struggling to get any kind of rhythm, and the hosts went in front with 17 minutes gone. Graeme Murty's pass was blocked, and it was fed to Diomansy Kamara. The Senegalese did well down the left, but there was a hint of offside when Lewis Cumber steered the cross past Adam Federici at the back post.

Fulham enjoyed much more of the running, and Dejan Stefanovic had a decent chance to make it 2-0, but he nodded over from an inswinging free kick.

Chances were at a premium, and approaching the half hour mark we had a decent spell of pressure, with Shane Long forcing keeper Warner to race off his line and scramble clear as he looked to go through on goal.

We also had half-hearted appeals for handball inside the penalty box, but the referee, who had a good game throughout, waved our appeals away.

With the half almost up, returning right back Graeme Murty shot from distance, but he pulled well wide and it summed up what had been a tough period for us in front of goal.

And Fulham almost nicked a second in injury time, but Federici tipped over a looping header over the bar.

Second half
We had half a chance to get back into it after the break, but Icelandic youth midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson wasn't quite forceful enough as the ball bounced near him in the box.

Down the other end Kamara caused a few problems for our backline of Michael Duberry and Ibrahima Sonko, and he did well to wriggle free and create a chance that Ismael Ehui could have done better from.

Then, with 62 minutes gone, the moment we had all been waiting for finally came: Glen Little on as a substitute and taking his place on the right wing. It was 359 days since he last played in a Reading shirt, and the wait was made all the more agonising at the final stages because the ball refused to go out of play for at least two minutes as he was ready to come on - it felt like an eternity!

His first touch was a first time side-footed cross from a raking Duberry pass, and it was close to a perfect introduction but just too far ahead of the onrushing strikers.

He soon settled with a couple more nice passes, and one interplay with Murty brought back many memories of their countless link-ups down that right flank.

Sadly though Fulham were not reading the script, and Alexei Smertin was pulling the strings in midfield. On 70, Ehui got past Sonko inside the area, and as Federici went to ground to make himself big, the frontman poked inside his near post for 2-0 and pretty much game over with 20 minutes left.

Little was getting more and more into the game, and the introduction of striker Radoslav Vasilev seemed to aid his cause, with the young Bulgarian getting hold of the ball well, and possessing the technical ability to link up with the likes of Little and Murty, creating a nice triangle out wide.

Glen laid off a couple of lovely backheels for Murty, and Vasilev almost got us back into the game but on three occasions he shot just wide after impressive play.

Long probably should have done better at the end of one well-constructed Reading move, but side-footed straight at Warner with the whole goal to aim at.

Down the other end Kamara continued to be the main threat, and he charged down fellow countryman Sonko's uncertain clearance on halfway but Federici saved well at his feet when he entered the area.

Little's adrenaline was flowing, and he dropped just in front of the back four on more than one occasion in a bid to get on the ball as much as possible and get some interplay going between those in a hooped shirt.

On saying that, Glen was certainly not 100%, and with more game time he'll be able to get those recovery runs at full pelt when the opposition are on the counter attack.

Overall, the result and performance were not what we've been able to expect from the reserves, but the return of Glen must count as a huge positive for all concerned.

He has such wonderful ability, and it was great to just see him out on the pitch once again. Of course though there comes a huge note of caution with this first appearance in almost a year to the day. By his own admission, he still has work to do on his fitness, and this is just the first step on the final part of the road to recovery. But to Glen, we say a big welcome back, it's good to see you again.

Look out for Reading World 's full video highlights on Wednesday, as well as a full picture special.