DONCASTER Rovers penalty hero Thimothee Lo-Tutala was bestowed with plenty of deserved praise after helping to put the club within one win of Wembley following a match-winning performance in the EFL Trophy quarter-final at Huddersfield Town - but Cliff Byrne felt the bouquets should be shared with goalkeeping coach Kyle Letheren.

Lo-Tutala made three penalty saves in the shoot-out after the game ended 1-1 after normal time, guessing right to deny ex-Rovers man Alfie May, Lasse Sorensen and Dion Charles, while Antony Evans hit the crossbar.

Earlier, the loanee had made some fine saves to deny Town in the second half after Cam Ashia cancelled out Billy Sharp's first-half penalty for Rovers, who made 10 changes from the weekend.

Robbie Gotts and Ben Close netted from the spot in the shoot-out for Rovers, who avenged their league defeat at Huddersfield in August.

Doncaster Rovers' penalty hero Timothee Lo-Tutala saves in the shoot out against Huddersfield Town. Picture: Jonathan Gawthorpe

placeholder image — Doncaster Rovers' penalty hero Timothee Lo-Tutala saves in the shoot out against Huddersfield Town. Picture: Jonathan Gawthorpe

Rovers number two Byrne said: "We're delighted. The remit from the manager (Grant McCann) before the game was to get into the next round and we've done with a really controlled performance.

"Timmy had a really good performance throughout the game and made some really good saves in terms of his reaction time in getting across his goal.

"But then in the penalties, between himself and Kyle, they have done their homework and Kyle has done his homework with the analysts in working out potentially where players will go and then it's ultimately down to Timmy to get there at the right time and he's done that and they have not managed to score any of them.

"We were really cool, calm and collected with our penalties. It's not an easy moment to step up and take penalties when you aren't routinely taking one.

Lo-Tutala embarks on a victory slide after penalty glory for Doncaster Rovers. Picture: Jonathan Gawthorpe

"The team as a whole can be really pleased with the performance. There has been a lack of minutes for them in recent weeks, but you wouldn't have been able to tell that with their fitness level, application and attitude and they implemented the game plan with and without the ball."