On-loan 'keeper reflects on Valiants' clash...
ON-LOAN goalkeeper, Karl Darlow came out of our Johnstone's Paint Trophy clash with Port Vale with plenty of credit despite seeing his spot-kick saved by debutant Vale 'keeper, Sam Johnson in the penalty shoot-out.Darlow made a string of fine saves during the game and then saved no fewer than four penalties in the shoot-out.
"I was generally pleased with my performance but disappointed that we didn't go through," he said. "I thought that my penalty was going in, but fair play to their 'keeper, he made a great save.
"We played well, particularly in the first half, and got ourselves into a commanding position at two goals up. But instead of tightening up and being organised, we allowed Vale to get a goal back almost straight away with a deflected effort.
"I've never played in a game that was decided like that before; all we wanted to do was progress into the next round but it was an amazing ending and we were disappointed not to go through.
"We'll learn from it now; we have to be able to take the sting out of games and kill teams off.
"We have a young and fearless group here with a lot of talent and we'll come back fighting in our next game.
"We're looking forward to Sunday. It's a big game with plenty of hype surrounding it. These are the kind of scenarios that we want to be involved in.
"I love it here; we've got a tight-knit bunch and that togetherness and spirit will serve us well."