Player focus: Is Adam Le Fondre the greatest super-sub?

Adam Le Fondre has been one of the few shining lights in a disappointing season which has seen Reading condemned to relegation with three games remaining after just one season. One of the biggest issues for the Royals this season has been their leaky defence which has left them with the second worst goal difference in the league with only QPR below them. However their goal difference could have been much worse if not for crucial goals scored by Adam Le Fondre.

        Le Fondre arrived at Reading from lower league Rotherham in 2011 for a fee believed to be around £350,000 he helped them to the Premiership as the clubs top scorer for the season with 12 goals in 33 league games. Not a bad return for a player they paid less than half a million for. Many were questioning though whether he would find success at the highest level but he has answered those questions emphatically.

        He has managed 11 goals this season with seven of them coming from the bench, in terms of goals per minute the Royal’s poacher even ranks above some other multi-million pound strikers like Rooney, Aguero and Tevez. One of his main strengths is being able to find space in the box and being able to anticipate where the ball is going to fall.

        He struggled to find any sort of consistent goal scoring form in the first half of the season and over Christmas became resigned to starting each game from the bench. This may have been a blessing in disguise though as Le fondre went through his best run of form in January scoring five league goals in total through the first month of the year. He scored particularly important goals against West Brom and Newcastle which helped them to turn losses into valuable wins.

        A particular highlight of the striker’s season has to be the 2-2 draw with Chelsea at the end of January, Reading looked out of it but Le fondre came off the bench to find two goals in the 87th and 90^th minute to earn Reading what at the time looked like a valuable point.

        His impact from the bench earnt him the title of super-sub and his goals are what gave many fans hope that Reading may have been able to turn their season around and stay in the league. Too many poor losses cost the Royals in the end though and they now find themselves on their way back to the Championship.

        Most fans will be hoping though that they can keep hold of the striker whose stock has surely rocketed following his performances this season in the hope he can help fire them straight back up.