Sheffield Wednesday manager Henrik Pederen lauds 'brilliant' Pierce Charles for heroics against Leicester City
Sheffield Wednesday manager Henrik Pedersen tipped Pierce Charles for a future at the top level after the goalkeeper’s heroics against Leicester City.
The 20-year-old is among the EFL’s hottest prospects and made a string of stunning saves as Wednesday drew 1-1 with Leicester.
Leicester managed to cancel out Jerry Yates’ early opener via Jordan Ayew, but could have scored more had it not been for the brilliance of Charles.
Post-match, Pedersen was effusive in his praise for the Northern Ireland international.
Henrik Pedersen’s praise for Pierce Charles and Sheffield Wednesday
He said: “It gives our defenders great confidence to have a fantastic goalkeeper behind them. All of our players worked so hard, but Pierce was brilliant. He will play at the top level.
“I saw another massive effort today. Of course it is disappointing to concede the late goal, but the players gave everything they could to get the win.
“We have played against a top team with Premier League players who needed to win to get out of the bottom three, so we knew we would come under maximum pressure.
“I feel there are a lot of things we could have done better on the ball but the discipline we showed was so good and we had a high stability of mental performance.
“The boys are always looking to support each other. We want to play like there are no mistakes; there is only the next action.
“The atmosphere today was magic. We have seen so much good support but this was the best atmosphere we have had this season; the energy we get from the fans is amazing.”
Gary Rowett’s reaction
Rock-bottom Wednesday’s relegation from the Championship has already been confirmed but Leicester are still battling to stay afloat.
The Foxes could have done with three points in South Yorkshire and manager Gary Rowett admitted to being frustrated.
He said: “It’s obviously hugely frustrating on the whole and a big disappointment we haven’t won the game after having so many chances.
“I get the narrative you have to come here and win, but a lot of teams haven’t had it easy against Sheffield Wednesday this season.
“What you can’t do is give them a lift and we gave them a lift after a minute and a half. That allowed them to sit back and make it harder for us to break them down.
“We’ve had five or six incredible chances and their ‘keeper has made some brilliant saves. I feel we’ve done more than enough to win the game.
“Sometimes we rushed things and it got a bit scrappy but when we showed patience we created some great opportunities, we just didn’t take enough of them.
“They’ve had one shot on target all game. We had all the possession and chances but another game has passed us by where we haven’t made it count.
“I’d be more concerned if we were sat here and we weren’t creating anything. We’ve just got to keep believing and doing the right things.”