The midfielder, who turned 20 in the week leading up to his first game back since the Carling Cup tie against Spurs in mid-December. Looked to have completely recovered from the abdominal strain that kept him out of action.
The Manager says, “It was good to see Michael playing 90 minutes and performing so well, and afterwards he reported no pain which is also good news.
“He surprised me a little bit because he looked so sharp after such a long time out.
“I also think Felipe Caicedo did well, you can see he is a good footballer, and Castillo is also doing better and better. So there were positive things but now it is up to us to lift our heads for Reading and start scoring some goals.”
With results over the weekend seeing the Blues remain in eighth place, Sven has also called on the squad to keep their heads up in the battle to bag a place in Europe next season.
“We are not showing the signs of giving up, but we need to keep positive and I want us to keep fighting until the last day. Different results for the teams around us could change everything as well.
“Opponents know us better now, they don’t come here to play open football which makes life more difficult for us. We will just have to live with that for the rest of the season, so we’ll just have to keep working and find a solution.”
