Ipswich Town manager Paul Lambert was left proud of his young team after they triumphed 6-5 penalties at Peterborough in the EFL Trophy tonight.
Barry Cotter converted the winning spot-kick in the sudden death stage of the shootout, after Adam Przybek had twice produced saves, to settle a tie that had finished 1-1 after 90 minutes. Idris El Mizouni (23) had given the Blues the lead before Ricky-Jade Jones levelled things up (33).
Town finished the game with a back five that had an average age of just 19, with six teenagers featuring altogether and 11 academy products in the squad. Meanwhile, Posh brought on star strikers Ivan Toney and Mo Eisa in the closing stages of the match.
"I'm proud of them all," said Lambert, whose team are now just three wins away from a Wembley final in this competition.
"We never had one centre-half apart from young Hendo (Alex Henderson) and he's just finished his Farley's Rusks! Myles (Kenlock) going into centre-back (after makeshift centre-back Cole Skuse came off with a knock), young Tommy (Smith) coming on, Barry (Cotter) did well… All the guys did great. It would be unfair to single anyone out."
On the shootout win, Lambert said: "It doesn't matter how many you hit in training. It's about having confidence when it matters. There were one or two that maybe didn't want one, which is understandable, but the penalties were a really high standard and Adam produced really good saves.
"Myles' penalty… Dear oh dear. Myles must be some dancer in a night club. That was John Travolta! Travolta would be happy with those hips! All he needed was a white suit!"
On 18-year-old debutant Henderson, who is currently on a work experience loan at Bostik North side Bury Town, Lambert said: "He's old fashioned and that's a compliment. He'd run through a brick wall that kid. I only saw him for about 20 minutes in a game the other day and I just liked his attitude. I thought second half he was outstanding."
The Blues boss added: "They're only kids and they need time to develop. The club can't go and buy like they did in years gone by. We have to rely on these guys and wait for them to come through. Hopefully, given time, they will go on to be strong Ipswich players. It bodes well for the future, but people need to give them time and not expect miracles."
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