Dejan Tetek was a name many Reading fans wouldn’t have heard of before the start of last season.

So when the 18-year-old (then 17) was named on the bench for the friendly against Gillingham in late August, it came as a major surprise to even the most hardcore Royals fan.

This move to promote Tetek to the substitutes bench was perhaps a sign of two things. Firstly, it showed the lack of depth the Berkshire side had last summer before reinforcements came in.

But secondly, it potentially foreshadowed the amount of playing time the club and former manager Mark Bowen were going to give the young Serbian in the Championship.

However, plans at the Madejski Stadium were thrown up in the air with the demotion (and subsequent departure) of Mark Bowen and the appointment of Veljko Paunovic.

Paunovic was a relatively unknown quantity in England, with the 43-year-old previously managing in the Serbian youth setup and at MLS side Chicago Fire.

Would the new manager give a fellow Serbian an adequate chance to impress? Would he put his faith in youth?

With the loan signing of Benfica midfielder Alfa Semedo and John Swift’s deployment in a more advanced role, Tetek found himself as the fourth choice defensive midfielder behind Andy Rinomhota, Josh Laurent and Semedo.

And despite being left out in the first few games of the season, the teenager did appear on the bench against Watford and came on for the final five minutes, helping the Royals to keep a clean sheet against one of the strongest sides in the Championship.

With injuries mounting up, Tetek appeared in the matchday squad quite regularly in the last campaign and despite making his league debut against the Hornets, his highlight of the season came against Norwich City in late April.

At this point, Reading had no mathematical chance of reaching the playoffs after their slow decline in the second half of the campaign, and Paunovic decided to give the midfielder a start against the Canaries.

This was a tall order for the 18-year-old against the eventual champions - but excelled in the middle of the park alongside Josh Laurent and put in a mature performance before being substituted.

The Royals went on to concede twice more after his substitution and lost 4-1, raising questions as to whether he should have remained on the pitch.

However, the Serbian only appeared briefly as a sub in the following game against Huddersfield, the final match of the league season.

Still, the Norwich game, his performance against Luton Town in the Carabao Cup near the start of 2020/21 and his other cameos will all combine to give Tetek a real chance of being more involved next year.

Rinomhota and Laurent are both highly rated - but with the pair out of contract next summer and Semedo returning to Portugal - the Berkshire side need to do everything they can to tie the midfielder down to a long-term deal.

If the club leaves things as they are and the midfielder continues to shine, they face the prospect of him being poached by another club, which would be a disaster after the release of Danny Loader and Omar Richards in the last 12 months.

Tom McIntyre is also set to become a free agent in the next few weeks - but this shouldn’t cover up the fact that the Royals desperately need to sort of Tetek’s contract as well.

If summer 2021 turns out to be a period of new contracts being signed across the club, supporters are likely to be more reassured over Reading’s long-term future.