Port Vale goalkeeper Jak Alnwick claimed he couldn’t have performed so well against West Bromwich Albion without the help of his teammates.
.Valiants went out of the Capital One CupThe 22-year-old pulled off a string of spectacular saves at the Hawthorns as the
It finished goalless after 120 minutes, meaning the shot-stopper has kept four clean sheets from six games so far this season.
But speaking to the press after the match, Alnwick was quick to point out the role the whole team played in keeping the Baggies at bay.
“The lads have been great in front of me but tonight a team like West Brom are going to break you down and it’s down to me to make a couple of saves,” he said.
“But everyone has been brilliant, we’ve worked on our shape a lot and defensively we look solid. On a personal note I’m really please but I couldn’t have done it without the lads.”
He continued: “We’re look very good and I don’t think it’s just the back four or five, I think it’s the lads in front.
“Granty, you can’t take anything away from him, he does a massive job defensively and so does the whole team.
“Big Uche defends from the front but the four lads have been brilliant, the two centre halves have been solid so it gives us a lot of positives going into the next game.”
Despite their resilience, Vale were eventually knocked out on penalties as Tony Pulis’ side converted all five of their spot-kicks.
“Obviously we’re disappointed to go out but when you look back at it, we’ve just taken a Premier League club to penalties,” Alnwick added.
“We’ve stood our ground the whole way through the game and we’ve kept another clean sheet so we’ve got to take every positive from it.
“Obviously we want to go through but there’s no disappointment in there because we’ve given our all and we’ve lost on a lottery.”