Matt Taylor hails Walsall goalkeeper Jack Rose
Boss Matt Taylor has praised the efforts of stand-in keeper Jack Rose after helping Walsall to a penalty shootout success at Northampton Town.
The Saddlers are going strong in the EFL Trophy after beating the Cobblers 4-2 on spot-kicks – the 90 minutes finishing 1-1.
Rose came in after Carl Rushworth's England Under-21s call-up and impressed with a series of smart saves before another in the shootout.
And Taylor said: "His attitude and application, every day, has been fantastic.
"That performance he produced doesn't come unless he's training correctly, and doesn't happen unless he's being supportive towards Carl.
"That's what we need. Carl deserves his call-up. It's a huge honour for him and the club.
"And Jack's now got an opportunity to replicate the performance he showed tonight on Saturday."
Emmanuel Osadebe put Walsall ahead early on at Sixfields before Dylan Connolly responded in the second half from the penalty spot.
That resulted in more penalties, where the Saddlers converted all four of their efforts.
On the performance as a whole, Taylor added: "We did enough, I felt, between both boxes again.
"We're creating opportunities in every single game.
"We've scored again, early on. At the moment, though, one goal is not enough.
"We've got to score when we create those opportunities, and we had some great ones. We've got to take more of those chances.
"However, the players showed wonderful resolve to win the penalty shootout – especially given we lost the last time we were in that situation.
"That's something the players should take great credit for.
"It's not easy. I've been in that position, at this ground, and I've missed, so it's very difficult.
"The players dealt with that pressure very well."
