Liam Rosenior labelled Matty Jacob’s performance as “outstanding” after his late equaliser rescued an Emirates FA Cup third round replay against managerless Birmingham City.
Lukas Jutkiewicz’s powerful first-half header looked to have settled the all Sky Bet Championship tie before full debutant Jacob crashed in an 87th-minute close-range equaliser off the bar.
“Still in the hat, disappointed not to win the game,” said Rosenior.
“I’m delighted with a lot of individual performances – some players really grasped the opportunity.
“Matty Jacob was outstanding. Take the goal out of the game, he was a credit to himself and his family. I know how much it means to him to play for this football club and he’s going to play more games if he plays like that, that’s for sure.
“I learned a lot. I still felt we were by far the better team. We create opportunities, we have one-v-one moments, we arrive in the box, we’re just not ruthless enough and that’s something that needs to change if we’re going to get to where I think we can get to this season.”
The one opportunity the Tigers did take came three minutes from time when Jacob found himself in the right place to fire home after Aaron Connolly’s cross was fumbled by Neil Etheridge.
“It summed up his performance,” said the boss. “He was fearless, he stepped onto the game, he played forward, he won every duel, he won every header.
“I’ve always seen something in Matty from when I first joined the club with how he conducts himself every single day.
“I was devastated for him in pre-season because it was our plan to have him in, play games in pre-season and have a real look at him, and he did his knee. He’s had to work back from that.
“Matty’s put himself right in the picture to play league games and I’m not afraid to play young players.”
GET MORE NEWS HERE