Sheffield United: The truth behind Wes Foderingham's penalty save against Nottingham Forest

The former Rangers goalkeeper, who also prevented Reda Khadra scoring from the spot during last month’s game against Blackburn Rovers, denied Forest’s Brennan Johnson during the first-half of yesterday’s contest; refusing to commit himself as the Wales international looked to place his shot into the middle of the net.

Johnson had adopted exactly the same approach when he converted from 12 yards during Forest’s win over Rovers last month.

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Asked if Foderingham knew what the 20-year-old would attempt to do, Heckingbottom said: “Yes, he really does his homework before games. It’s something him and Matt are really big on, they put a lot of time into it.

“Brennan had done something similar not so long ago. So of course, they’d seen that. Still, it takes a really brave ‘keeper to stand there and now move because the temptation for them is to always try and do something.

“Wes held his nerve, relied on the work he’s done, and got his reward for that. It’s down to what he does with Matt.”

Billy Sharp appeared to have put United on course for what would have been an important win in the race for Championship play-off qualification when he scored for the 14th time this season following Johnson’s miss. But Forest’s Ryan Yates equalised in the fifth minute of added time.

“We thought we’d done enough,” Heckingbottom said. “It wasn’t to be.”

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