Reading defender Tom McIntyre spoke highly of the value of playing against a side as strong as Sevilla, in a pre-season friendly on Saturday night.

The defender took part in a hotly-contested first 45 minutes on Saturday night, which ended goalless.

Two new teams took to the turf in the second period, with Sevilla eventually running out as 2-1 winners against the Royals in an evenly-matched friendly.

The 20-year-old said: “It was brilliant, it was one of the biggest sides in the world, they are challenging for Champions Leagues, Europa Leagues, so for a lot of us we've have never played against a team of that calibre," the Academy graduate said after the game.

“It was so valuable to get minutes against that kind of team. There are players who played for national teams, so it was good.

“That’s just something we should get used to, because in the Championship it’s a really physical league.

“They may have been better on the ball than some Championship teams, but they might have been good in different ways, so we just have to adapt to each game, you’ll get different tests against different teams.

“You learn so much really, I’ve never had an experience against a top team like that. I will take so much from that, even though it’s a pre-season game I think it’s about taking every mistake or every good thing you do and learn from it.”

McIntyre praised the travelling Royals supporters who made their way over to the match, who made themselves heard despite being completely outnumbered by the home support.

He added: “I could hear them more than a lot of the Sevilla fans for most of the game, and it was brilliant that they could come out, and credit to them for making the effort to come out because we really appreciate it.

“Going to see them was the least we could do, they made this trip and spent their hard-earned money to see us, so the least we could do is go over and shake their hands and say thank you for coming.”

ALSO: Read Jose Gomes' thoughts on Reading's match with Sevilla