JOHN Swift has landed the EFL Young Player of the Month award after an outstanding January.

The summer signing from Chelsea had a dramatic impact on Royals' fortunes having only just returned from a long injury lay-off.

The England Under 21 international scored three times for Jaap Stam's promotion-chasing during four January victories.

That successful run saw Stam named Sky Bet Championship Manager of the Month, with Evans now adding to the club's accolades.

But the 21-year-old was keen to deflect the praise onto his Reading team-mates.

“Awards are nice but the whole team is the most important thing,” said Swift, who collected his award at Reading's Hogwood Park training ground.

“We are still up there and still pushing for promotion which is the aim.

“It's a credit to the whole team, not just me. Coming back from injury is quite hard and I had to get into the swing of things again.

“But I came back into a team which was already firing.”

During January Swift netted in a 3-2 defeat at Derby County, a 2-1 home win against Cardiff City and a 1-0 victory at Birmingham.

He has now scrored eight times in 29 league and cup appearances this season since his £1m switch from Stamford Bridge.

Swift's goals helped put Royals on course for a play-off spot at least, though one win from their last five fixtures including back-to-back defeats to promotion rivals Huddersfield and Brighton saw Stam's men fall from third to fifth in the table.

However, Swift added: “We're still up there pushing for promotion so hopefully I can get a few more goals and stay up there.

“We need a big push, a massive push over the last run of games and I'm sure all the boys are thinking about it, keeping their head down and doing the right things.

“Hopefully we'll keep up there until the end of the season.”

Reading's squad enjoyed time away from the training ground today for a team-bonding session at a go-kart racing track.

Winger Callum Harriott, who has not played this year due to a severe hamstring injury, claimed the honours on the day.


Royals are now preparing for successive home games as they host struggling Wolves this Saturday (3pm) and title-chasing Newcastle United next Tuesday (8pm ko).