The Nigerian was shipped to the Royals from Watford and has since gone on to shine under the Serbian manager’s stewardship
Tom Dele-Bashiru has promised to repay the faith Veljko Paunovic has shown in him joining Reading.
The Nigerian midfielder’s inability to tie down a regular place in Watford saw him loaned to the Select Car Leasing Stadium for the 2021-22 campaign.
Since joining the Royal, Dele-Bashiru had played four games without any success in front of goal.
Against Peterborough United, however, he scored a brace in the 3-1 triumph over Darren Ferguson’s side.
Buoyed by his performance, the 21-year-old has promised to keep scoring goals and making assists to repay the Serbian for trusting him.
"I’m really grateful to the gaffer for his trust in me and hopefully I can keep repaying him with goals and assists,” he told Reading website.
"Everyone has a clearer understanding of their responsibilities defensively now so I’m sure the clean sheet will be coming soon.
"We were all buzzing after the final whistle and I’m sure the lads will cherish this and want to keep having those winning feelings."
Heading to the game against the Posh, Reading had gone on a run of four games without winning in the English second-tier.
"I’m very happy we finally got the win, and to score two goals – it was a good team performance,” he continued.
"It was a bit of a scrappy game until Swifty scored an amazing free-kick, and after that, we had a bit of momentum and it was good to get the second and third goals.
"It was a great feeling, to do it at home, the fan support was great and I could hear them shouting my name. I’m really happy to get the three points.
"For the first one, I watched the ball come across and I had a feeling the keeper would go back across to where the ball came from, so I reversed it into the bottom corner.
"And the second, I heard everyone screaming shoot, Swifty screaming shoot, so I thought why not go for it!"
Dele-Bashiru is expected to start in the Royal’s midfield when they travel to Craven Cottage for their next fixture against Fulham on September 18.