PENALTY HERO TRAFFORD ON SUNDERLAND SAVES!

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Goalkeeper enjoys heroics with double save against Sunderland

2025-01-17T23:54:42.375Z

PENALTY HERO TRAFFORD ON SUNDERLAND SAVES!

Goalkeeper enjoys heroics with double save against Sunderland

2025-01-17T23:54:42.375Z

Clarets' shot stopper on the shortlist for January's EFL award

Penalty hero James Trafford said he was feeling good following his heroics against Sunderland at Turf Moor on Friday evening.

There was late drama in Lancashire when the keeper stepped up on two occasions to save Wilson Isidor penalties to secure a valuable point on the night.

“I’m feeling good! I’m happy to get CJ and Oliver out of trouble, so I’m feeling good.”

Key moments in the game, what was going through the 22-year-old's mind not just for the first penalty but when he found himself in exactly the same situation again not long after?

“The first one, it got given. I looked down and my laces were undone on my right foot. So, I thought I’ve got to tie my laces, looked at my bottle, did what it said on my bottle and saved it.

“The second one. For some reason, my hamstring cramped up, so Will the doc came on. I spoke to him about my hammy cramping up because he knows what he’s doing. I asked about the penalty, and he gave us really, really bad advice! But then I just got in the striker’s head and saved it again.”

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With the penalty saves celebrated like goals by the Clarets fans on the night, Trafford had some time between the penalties being given to them being taken, with the travelling contingent just to his right. Does that get in his head in those moments?

“I’m fully focussed, it’s all just noise. But I gave them a little bit of a celebration after it for a bit of fun!”

Under the lights at Turf Moor the clash saw the teams at the top end of the table both have chances on the evening. How would the keeper reflect on the performance as a whole?

“I thought we were very good to be fair. We had the better chances, take away the two penalties, they are what they are. We had the better chances throughout the game but when two good teams come up against each other the game ebbs and flows.

“Take the two penalties out of it, a draw may be a fair result, but we could have won it with some of the chances.”

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The result sees Scott Parker's men go 15 consecutive games unbeaten across all competitions and secure an 18th clean sheet and Trafford believes the statistics are testament to the hard work of all the players and coaching staff.

“Yeah, we all know the clean sheets aren’t down to one individual, it’s down to the whole team and as a team we put in a lot of work to keep clean sheets. We know and we back ourselves to keep clean sheets.

“It’s a massive testament to us 11 on the pitch at any given time, the manager, Jacko, all the coaches. They put in a lot of work because we really pride ourselves on our defensive work and how much effort we put in as a team throughout the 90 minutes.”

Finally, reflecting on what he described as a fair point overall, he's keen to take it and move onto the next game in a hunt for three points.

“Yes, every point is important. Obviously, we’d rather win, and we play to win but if you can only get a point, then we only get a point and we move on to the next game and try to get three points.”