TOWN’S penalty hero, Tyrell Belford, says that he is always ready to play when called upon by Manager Mark Cooper.
Speaking after saving two penalties in Swindon’s JPT win over Stevenage at SN1, the goalkeeper assessed the performance and explained what happened for the visitors’ equaliser.
“I’m always ready to play when called upon by the gaffer,” he said. “I’m always comfortable because we’ve got a solid back four.
“In the first half we were decent. The game plan was to keep the ball off them and we did that: for the first 20 minutes we kept the ball well but in the second half we got sloppy.
“It’s come over the post and hit my right shoulder and gone in. I’m disappointed but we got the right result in the end.”
Going in to the shoot-out, the ‘keeper revealed that the manager had tipped him off about one of the Stevenage penalties.
“When I was at Liverpool I did it a few times: I saved four out of four,” he continued. “I tried to get in the strikers’ head: I’m going in with no pressure. It’s a 50/50 chance and I got tipped off by the gaffer he's done his homework. I was trying to gee up the crowd before the penalties and I thought they were great.”
Finally, the youngster assessed the test Town would face in the Area Final against Peterborough.
“It’s going to be a tough battle,” he said. “They’re a strong team but we are as well. We've got a great bunch of lads working for the cause.”
