Penalty hero Ivor Pandur sums up what a clean sheet means to his side
It was hard to tell which pleased Hull City head coach Sergej Jakirovic more on Wednesday night, the three points or the fact his side kept a clean sheet. Part relieved, part delighted by the performance, Jakirovic said his side were “dying for a clean sheet” as the second most leaky defence in the Championship got some well earned luck to keep out Wrexham in a 2-0 victory.
A big part of that shut out was the penalty-saving heroics of goalkeper Ivan Pandur, who has had the unfortunate responsibility of picking the ball out of the back of the net with too much regularity of late. The 25-year-old Croatian guessed correctly to palm away Kieffer Moore’s penalty on what was an otherwise relatively quiet night for the goalkeeper, much to his delight.
A first clean sheet for eight matches and a victory that lifted the Tigers back into the top-six was the perfect fillip for a side soundly beaten 4-1 at home by Middlesbrough just days earlier. According to Pandur, it can provide the perfect lift ahead of a testing trip to third-placed Millwall on Saturday.
“We know we are conceding too many goals and we are working on it. Having a clean sheet gives us something to take into the next game,” Pandur told Hull Live.
“Team performance wise (against Wrexham) it was brilliant from the start. With the energy and everything we put in, I couldn’t be more happy. It was a relief to respond after what happened on Friday and we knew Wrexham were a good opponent with a good unbeaten record.
“They only created two chances and I am really happy for the guys in front of me. For the penalty we go through so much detail and I am happy we made the right call in which way to go for the penalty.”
After Kyle Joseph’s goal set the hosts on their way to victory, it was the returning Oli McBurnie who secured the three points with a typical finish from a Ryan Giles cross. Only on the pitch a matter of minutes in his return from injury, McBurnie’s impact was swift and equally significant for City after losing Joe Gelhardt to injury for five weeks.
Now with eight goals for the season, McBurnie’s first appearance for almost two months was the icing on the cake on a significant night for the Tigers. If there was any uncertainty left about the striker’s important to this City team, Pandur moved quickly to dispel that.
He added; “Oli is so important for this team, this group and you wouldn’t want to face him, so we are lucky to have him.
“Every day I see Oli in training and it gives me such a good feeling. I don’t know what it is about him, but he is such a lovely guy. Every day at training he fights and works to show this team what is expected of everybody else.”
Here at Hull Live , we are dedicated to bringing you the best Hull City coverage and analysis. Make sure you don’t miss out on the latest City news by joining our free WhatsApp group.
You can get all the breaking news and best analysis sent straight to your phone by clicking here to subscribe. You can also subscribe to our free newsletter service.
Click here to be sent all the day’s biggest stories.