Hatters snap up Royals defender on loan

The 20-year-old has yet to feature for the Royals this season, with his only Reading appearance to date coming in August last year, during the Capital One Cup tie at Scunthorpe.

Long was a regular for the Royals’ U18s when they reached the Barclays U18s Premier League final in 2012-13 and was on the bench for the first team towards the end of last campaign.

He has been an ever-present for the club’s U21 side so far this season, playing six times including in wins over Liverpool and Tottenham.

Long has captained the Republic of Ireland U19s, and is a regular for the Irish U21s too, playing against Italy on Tuesday night, plus the matches with Lithuania and Andorra this season.

Town boss John Still told the club’s official website: “Sean’s a talented young man who we’ve watched a few times.

“His availability gives us a touch more competition in an area where we’ve been a little light.

“Stephen O’Donnell’s had a knock and we’ve been playing Scott Cuthbert at right-back.

“Scotty’s done well but we see him as a centre-half and Sean gives us some flexibility should we want to play different systems, but in a four at the back he is someone who can get forward.”

Long’s loan runs until Saturday, November 14 and he is available for selection for Saturday’s game at Crawley, where he has been given squad number 20.

Meanwhile, Luton’s Mark Onyemah has extended his loan at National League South side Dartford for a further month.