Top Stories

Novakovich misses Reading friendly due to back injury

Andrija Novakovich has been a lively figure for Reading so far this summer.

Since arriving back from loan at Fortuna Sittard, Novakovich put in a good shift in the Royals first summer friendly before scoring in a 10-0 rout of Gibraltar United four days later. However, the American striker missed Reading’s latest match on Tuesday with a back injury.

English outlet Get Reading confirmed the news on Wednesday, stating that Novakovich did not play due to the injury suffered in training on Monday. However, the 22-year-old is hoping to make a quick recovery and be ready for four more tune-ups before Reading’s EFL Championship opener on Aug. 3rd.

“I had a little problem in training on Monday but hopefully I will be back in the next couple of days but we’ll see how it goes,” Novakovich said.

“Hopefully it’s not too serious or anything. It’s already been better so apart from that I’ve been enjoying the camp.”

Novakovich is coming off back-to-back loans to Holland, in which he’s totaled 33 goals in 68 appearances in all competitions. He helped Fortuna Sittard fight off relegation from the Dutch Eredivisie last season, scoring 11 goals in all comps.

Since joining Reading in 2015, Novakovich has made only two senior appearances. Novakovich has been battling for minutes this preseason with Sam Baldock, Yakou Meite, and Mo Barrow.

A winner of three caps with the U.S. Men’s National Team, Novakovich will continue to fight for a starting spot ahead of Reading’s Opening Weekend showdown with Sheffield Wednesday at Madejski Stadium.

Comments

  1. that’s a bummer. hopefully it’s just a little tweak.
    i think he’s done enough in preseason to get Reading and their fan base intrigued.
    i suspect they’re leaning towards keeping him around, instead on loaning him out.
    that’s a pretty good thing if he nails down at least a bench role.
    but if this back injury lingers through the rest of preseason.. he could end up with their u23s for a good deal of the real season.
    and that would suck.

    Reply

Leave a Comment