Sheffield Wednesday: Carvalhal praise for Owls keeper Westwood

Owls chief Carlos Carvalhal paid tribute to goalkeeper Keiren Westwood after the narrow loss to Preston North End.
Kieren WestwoodKieren Westwood
Kieren Westwood

Westwood excelled in between the sticks, making a string of important saves to keep the Lancashire outfit at bay.

Injuries have hampered the Republic of Ireland international throughout the campaign, but he looked back to his best at Deepdale.

Carlos CarvalhalCarlos Carvalhal
Carlos Carvalhal
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“Keiren did well; we are happy with him,” said head coach Carvalhal. “Most of the team played well.”

For all their possession and eye-catching passing moves, Wednesday looked short of ideas in the final third, failing to trouble Preston shot-stopper Anders Lindegaard.

Carvalhal said: “We had shots from outside the area, even in the last few minutes we had one or two situations, but we didn’t score. The reality is their keeper didn’t have to do too much work.”

Cheered on by more than 5,600 fans, the Owls struggled to break down Preston and their cause was not helped when Fernando Forestieri was sent off following two bookings.

Carlos CarvalhalCarlos Carvalhal
Carlos Carvalhal
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“It was a balanced game between two teams in a good moment,” said Carvalhal, who named an unchanged starting line-up for the first time in his Wednesday reign.

“We expected difficulties. I thought we were very good. We created some chances and so did Preston.

“Overall the game was very even, very balanced, and both teams had chances to win.

“After the red card with Fernando, everything changed. It made a big difference playing 11 v 10.

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“Preston started to move the ball well and we missed some balance. They scored the goal. We tried everything after they scored. We had one or two chances.

“I am happy with the attitude of our players; they tried to win the game. We took risks even with 10 players and they fought until the last second.”