Forest Green head coach Rob Edwards praised goalkeeper Lewis Thomas after his vital penalty save steered the League Two side into the next round of the Carabao Cup at the expense of Championship side Bristol City.
The former Wales Under-19s international kept out Kasey Palmer’s spot-kick and then denied Cameron Pring to secure a 6-5 win on penalties after the sides had drawn 2-2.
Edwards said: “I’m delighted for him, to make the two saves he did. He’s a brilliant professional and the lads love him to bits.
“He will be disappointed he didn’t start on Saturday in the league but to react in that way showed a lot of character so I’m pleased for him.
“I was pleased with what he did tonight and he’s certainly shown his credentials. I know he is really going to push and make my decision really difficult for Saturday now.
“Full credit to the players – they have this belief and they don’t know when they’re beat.
“I really think there’s something inside them so that they keep on going. Once we went 2-1 down I thought we showed a lot of character and were the dominant team with the ball.”
Bristol City manager Nigel Pearson said: “It was a game we should have won and we continue to make silly errors in terms of running the clock down.
“Players had an opportunity tonight to show what they are about but we didn’t really do the job that we should have done.
“There were some promising performances and it was good to get Han-Noah (Massengo) back and complete the 90 minutes.
“It’s just frustrating to get into a winning position and lose on penalties. Once it goes to penalties it’s a bit of a lottery.”
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