Home
Ian Evatt had faith that Joel Dixon would produce the goods for Wanderers on his cup bow.
The former Barrow keeper kept a clean sheet against Championship Barnsley then made a crucial save in the penalty shoot-out to book a place in the second round.
Dixon replaced Matt Gilks, whose performance in the weekend’s 3-3 draw against MK Dons had come under considerable scrutiny.
And Evatt says the debutant’s performance illustrates that there will be fierce competition for the number one spot this season.
“Joel a good goalkeeper,” he said. “I had him for two years, I trust him.
“He is never going to let us down, he is reliable. He is a completely different character to Matt but we have got two fantastic goalkeepers. We know that, moving forwards. They are both going to compete with each other.
“We have a strong choice in that goalkeeping department, which is what we needed, we didn’t have that last year.”
Wanderers scored all five of their penalties, with Josh Sheehan netting the final one to seal victory.
Evatt admitted there had been little practical preparation for a shootout on the training ground.
“I don’t think you can because you can’t replicate being at a stadium with that pressure and the fans shouting and singing,” he said. “That’s impossible to replicate on the training ground. We have got some technically very good footballers and when Josh Sheehan steps up for that last penalty, you really fancied him to get the job done.”
Though regular penalty taker Eoin Doyle had been taken off, Evatt said he was not short on volunteers before the shootout, with Antoni Sarcevic, Amadou Bakayoko, Lloyd Isgrove and Elias Kachunga all joining Sheehan to step forward.
“When I asked, them five put their hands straight up, so it was an easy decision really,” he said. “ “If I was going to choose five, I would have chosen those five as well. We had Eoin on the bench, who is our penalty taker, but all five penalties were excellent.”
Source