A good night for Stoke City under-21s as Ben Pearson and Bosun Lawal come through run-out test, Andre Vidigal gets on the scoresheet and Emre Tezgel fires hat-trick.

Emre Tezgel scored a hat-trick as Stoke City under-21s ran out 5-1 winners at Reading.

The 19-year-old striker did himself no harm as he tries to make an impression for new boss Mark Robins as he led a rout for the junior Potters on a windswept night in Berkshire. Andre Vidigal also got two as he tries to claw himself back in from the cold or attract a suitor late in the January transfer window.

It was an encouraging night all-round as Ben Pearson got through another 45 minutes as he steps up his return from 10 months out with a hamstring injury while Bosun Lawal played for an hour, his longest appearance since a back injury was diagnosed when he signed from Celtic in the summer.

It is goals that will be catching Robins’ eye as he tries to find a winning formula for shot-shy Stoke, who head to bottom half rivals Hull in the Championship on Saturday.

Back-up keeper Jack Bonham also started for the under-21s as Stoke took the opportunity to get minutes into players who have been short on game time recently. The under-21s are also in Staffordshire Senior Cup action tonight at Newcastle Town (7.30pm), when they are likely to call upon some of the under=18s squad.

Dave Hibbert’s youngsters are back on the road in Premier League 2 on Friday night as well when they head to West Ham.

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