The Post-Match Debrief: Reading 1-1 Wycombe Wanderers

Fans expected a rotated side for Tuesday's 7PM kick-off, and that's exactly what they got, with an entirely different eleven named to face Reading.

Mikki van Sas started in goal for the Chairboys, with Anders Hagelskjaer and Dan Casey making their first competitive starts since their respective injuries.

Jamie Mullins, Luke Leahy, and Caolan Boyd-Munce made up the midfield with Junior Quitirna and Micah Olabiyi on the respective wings and Bradley Fink as the lone striker.

As for the opposition, a rotated side was also named, with Jack Marriott, who scored a hat trick against Luton Town in Reading's first league game of the season, absent from the squad.

Wanderers started the game well, with a nice sequence of fluent football allowing them to register their first chance of the game, with Boyd-Munce finding Olabiyi in a dangerous area of the pitch, but the youngster was unable to turn the chance into a goal.

Van Sas was in the thick of the action in the first half, producing three strong saves to keep the scores level heading into the break.

It was certainly a half of football, with neither side really looking like they were up to full speed with their heavily rotated squads, but it was clear that either one of them needed to find the extra gear if they wanted to be the first to put their side in front.

Just after the 70-minute mark, Quitirna finally broke the deadlock after an excellent diagonal pass from Hagelskjaer found the winger, who danced inside and finished with conviction.

Wycombe unfortunately didn't hold the lead for very long, with the hosts equalising after Liam Fraser's strike from outside the box found the back of the net, with Van Sas unable to get down in time.

There wasn't much more action after that, and the full-time whistle was blown, the game heading to penalties.

With penalties taken in front of the travelling Wycombe fans, Emre Tezgel, Hagelskjaer and Leahy all missed from 12 yards whilst the Royals converted theirs, which saw the Berkshire side bag the extra point.

While Wycombe didn't technically lose the match, as they left the Select Car Leasing Stadium with a point in hand, an extra point definitely wouldn't have been bad.

Penalties are something that needs to be worked on, as seen before against Fulham in the Carabao Cup last term.

If they were to come up again against a bigger side under more trying circumstances, it would be understandable as to why Wanderers fans probably wouldn't have too much faith in the side taking the shots from 12 yards if that's what the standard is for the season.

Obviously, it's only the first group stage match of the Vertu Trophy, and there wasn't much at stake other than the extra point, but if it were something else, would the penalties have been much better?

Once again, Wanderers looked threatening down the wide areas of the pitch, with Quitirna finding the net and youngster Olabiyi impressing with his pace and his technical ability on the ball.

However, it was once again a case of Wycombe looking toothless in the middle-attacking area of the pitch. Mullins and Fink didn't link up well, which maybe suggests the scoring issues don't lie solely on the strikers' shoulders.

Hagelskjaer and Casey were as strong as ever, playing their first competitive 90 minutes since their respective injuries, with the Dane assisting Quitirna thanks to a brilliant diagonal pass.

Hopefully, it's a case of Duff slowly integrating the two defenders back into the squad. Hagelskjaer was an unused sub against Blackpool with Casey absent, but the two were on the bench against Stevenage in the Carabao Cup first-round loss.

If it's a fitness question, the two were able to play the 90 against Reading, so hopefully they shouldn't be too far off starting or at the very least featuring in a league match.

Connor Taylor looked shaky still at the back next to Steve Cook against Stevenage, so the sooner they're able to come back, the better – either together or one of them next to a more experienced head in Cook.

Taylor Allen performed well at left-back and eventually left wing for the Chairboys, with unfounded online rumours saying that a return to his former side, Walsall, is on the horizon for the defender.

He certainly put his name in the hat to play against Plymouth Argyle on Saturday, as he looked confident on the ball and was able to take it up the pitch and create an attacking threat for Wanderers.

Off the back of the match against Reading, we could probably see a few changes to the starting XI for the first home league match of the season against Plymouth.

Fred Onyedinma will most likely start on one of the wide areas of the pitch, probably the right, so either Quitirna or Silko Thomas could start on the opposite side.

I would like to see Olabiyi feature, at the very least from the bench, after he impressed on Tuesday and scored a late winner against Rotherham in Wycombe's final game last season and was given his first professional contract in the off-season.