Julio Santa Cruz Is Close To First Team Spot

Julio Santa Cruz might be appearing in the first team sooner than you think. Julio believes if he progresses at his current rate he can fulfill his life long dream to partner his older brother Roque in the Rovers first team.

Cynics believed Julio was bought to keep Roque sweet in the summer but having watched the reserves, he is actually a very talented football player.

Paul Ince has also been giving him encouragement and suggested he could be appearing in the seniors before too long.

Speaking to the Lancashire Evening Telegraph, Julio said - "Playing alongside Roque is my dream, and I think this could happen soon, as I am training with the first team and I understand I could be part of them soon,'

"I am working to convert this dream into reality. It is one of my personal targets, but two brothers playing together is very unusual in football.

"Since I arrived on August 1 this year, I realised we have to adapt quickly in order to play. And I am working hard under the coach, Paul Ince, and one of his assistants, Iain Brunskill.

"Ince has told me I will play with the first team soon if I keep on working hard.

"I settled into the club pretty quickly and obviously Roque helped me a lot because he had been through this in the past."

"It is a special moment for me because I appeared during 10 minutes in my debut against Manchester United [reserves] but I could not do much.

"After that, I played more against Newcastle and even scored with my third chance, which is always great for strikers who at trying to break into the team,'

"I finally made it on my third appearance, as I played more, gave several assists and scored the fifth in the 5-1 win over Hull City. I celebrated it with my team-mates and it was a special moment for my professional life.'

Well this all sounds very promising. Good on you Julio, if you can transform the reserves performances to the first team, you could be putting older brother in the shade!

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