It’s Good To Talk To Carson

I know the ‘penalty advice’ has been covered already today, but either this is a seperate article, or a more padded one, but Carson gives more in terms of reaction to the game itself this time round.

Speaking to the official site, onloan goalkeeper Scott Carson admitted that goalkeeping coach Seamus McDonagh had given him a clue where to dive if a penalty came along, but instead of Carson going with his instincts he heeded the advice, and kept it out.

‘I was delighted with the penalty save. Seamus told me before game that Derbyshire’s last penalty was right and low. That doesn’t always help. But I had a word in Matt’s ear before the penalty and told him I remembered where he put his spot-kicks in the under-21 championships in the summer.

‘I was just delighted to get behind it and do my bit for the team.

‘I don’t like being given advice on where to dive. I like to have my own mindset and go with my instincts.

‘When he stood there, I was going to go left but then I saw his run-up and thought I’d go right.

‘He didn’t strike it badly. The ball went back into the mix and the defenders did well to get it away.

‘It was great to save a penalty – probably the same feeling as scoring a goal for strikers.’

Scott hasn’t sometimes had the best of luck in goal and some have begun to doubt his ability, however whether he is worth the reported £10 million or not I can’t say, but there is obviously a lot of potential there and we all know goalkeepers only get better with age.

‘Their goal was annoying. Dunn came through and I got a strong hand on his shot.

‘I didn’t see Santa Cruz’s goal go in because Freddy smashed me on the floor. He (Santa Cruz) told me at the next corner that it was a lucky goal because he mis-hit it.

‘Overall, I thought it was a game between two evenly matched sides. It probably wasn’t the best of games for the neutral.

‘It was a good point. The comeback and Ashley’s goal just shows our character.

‘They made life difficult for us. Santa Cruz is a similar player to John (Carew). He is a handful and I thought there were two great strikers on show – two superb target men.

‘They were difficult to break down because they played five in midfield. Without playing the best, we did OK and grinded out a result.’

It’s been said plenty of times before that we are now grinding out results where in previous seasons we would’ve lost which is no bad thing. There’s no shame in drawing against Blackburn, and although, me included, many thought we might stand a chance of another thriller a point is better than losing all 3 and we shouldn’t lose sight of that fact.