Sam Ricketts rallies behind Shrewsbury Town goalkeeper Harry Burgoyne
Manager Sam Ricketts has backed goalkeeper Harry Burgoyne to bounce back from his disappointing Shrewsbury Town debut.
Burgoyne, 23, was at fault for two of Middlesbrough’s goals as the Championship side knocked Town out of the Carabao Cup in Friday night’s thrilling first round tie.
Former Wolves youngster Burgoyne, from Ludlow, was making his Salop bow some seven months after checking in from the Molineux club but let Marvin Johnson’s opener for Boro slip through his grasp before a loose clearance allowed Ashley Fletcher to make it 3-1.
But Ricketts had sympathy for the shot-stopper, who was given the nod between the sticks with new loan goalkeeper recruit Matija Sarkic on international duty with Montenegro.
“He’s big enough to hold his hands up and say he could and should have done better for a couple of the goals,” Ricketts said of Burgoyne’s rocky debut on Teesside.
“That’s the life of a goalkeeper. When you’re a forward and miss a chance, no-one really remembers it too much as long as you put the next one away.
“And if there’s a mistake from a goalkeeper we all remember and there’s a 90 per cent chance it leads to a goal and for Harry it did.
“But he’s strong enough mentality and big enough to bounce back from that and learn from it.”
Ricketts said that ex-AFC Telford loan keeper Burgoyne was unfortunate on missing out on vital minutes he would have picked up before last season was ended prematurely due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The goalkeeper was making his first competitive appearance in 16 months since turning out for former loan club Falkirk in the Scottish Championship in May 2019.
“He’s the same as anyone,” the Town boss added. “We hadn’t played a competitive game since March but he hasn’t played a competitive game for an awfully long time.
“It was a shame how last season ended, it would’ve been nice to give him a run in the side at the back end of last season so he got the five or six games out the way and got into a bit of rhythm.
“But unfortunately we haven’t been able to do that. He’s a young goalkeeper who is going to make mistakes but has a very bright future.”
Sarkic, who has one cap for Montenegro, is away on Nations League duty with his country and was on the bench for Saturday’s tie at Cyprus.
Montenegro then head to Luxembourg for another group game tomorrow evening.
Aside from his two errors at an empty Riverside Stadium, Burgoyne was not overly stretched by a Boro side full of quality from the division above.
The keeper, who made 11 first-team appearances for Wolves having come through academy ranks at Molineux – 10 in the Championship and one in a famous FA Cup victory away to Liverpool – showed his shot-stopping ability with a fine late flying save to deny Marcus Browne.
