JAAP Stam was left counting the cost of Reading FC's EFL Cup victory against MK Dons after Deniss Rakels and Liam Kelly suffered serious injuries.

Rakels went down clutching his ankle after coming off worse while attempting to block a clearance by Dons defender George B. Williams.

The Latvia striker was stretchered off in the 16th minute and taken to straight to hospital for tests.

Stam explained: “Deniss is going to hospital. I think it was a bad challenge on his ankle and we're not sure if it's very bad.

“From what I've heard it is not a good sign. He's going to have X-rays tonight.

“You need a strong squad with a lot of players who can fill in with each other.

"Deniss is one of those players. He's an excellent professional. He works very hard and is a real team player with real quality.

“It's a pity if he's injured and is going to be out for a long time.”

Rakels appreared to suffer the injury while blocking a clearance, but Stam disagreed.

"I think it was a tackle," he insisted.

Meanwhile, Kelly suffered a bad gash to his eye and face and is undergoing tests for concussion after an accidental clash of heads with teammate Jake Cooper early in the second half.

Midfielder Kelly had been one of Royals' better players on the night until the incident occurred.

Stam added: “Liam Kelly has a bad cut in his eyebrow and his nose and needed a lot of stitches to his face. We don't know if he has concussion so we'll wait on that.”

However, Stam revealed new signing Liam Moore and Cooper are suffering nothing worse than cramp after the second-round tie went to extra time and penalties.

Dean Bowditch gave MK Dons the lead with a 34th minute penalty after Anssi Jaakkola tripped Kabongo Tshimanga in the box.

Callum Harriott levelled with a sensational strike on 69 minutes but neither side could find a winner in normal time.

However, Harriott struck again in the 113th minute to put Royals 2-1 in front only for Tshimanga to equalise four minutes later and send the tie to a penalty shootout.

However, Danny Williams, George Evans, Stephen Quinn and Jordan Obita all scored theirs for Reading, while Ben Reeves hit the bar and Samir Carruthers' effort was saved by Jaakkola as Stam's side limped into the third round.

“Most of the time when you start these games well, start aggressively and create chances you want to finish it off as quickly as you can,” stated Stam.

“But we couldn't do that and the injuries we picked up made it even harder.

“However, we got through and we're relieved to be in the next round.”