Town keeper Václav Hladký has dismissed his reputation as a spot-kick save specialist, which he earned on both sides of the border with previous clubs St Mirren and Salford.
Hladký’s heroics for the Saints — three saves from four penalties in the play-off shootout that preserved the club’s Premiership status — made headlines just six months after he arrived at the club from Slovan Liberec in his native Czech Republic, a club that Town faced in the UEFA Cup 19 years ago and to whom they lost, coincidentally, on penalties.
His reputation was enhanced when he joined Salford and on his debut he saved a penalty in an EFL Cup first round clash with Rotherham to send the Ammies through.
He did it again in the delayed 2020 EFL Trophy final in March this year when he denied Portsmouth’s Ronan Curtis in another shoot-out following the sides’ goalless draw, enabling his club to win the competition at their first attempt.
There were further accolades to come for the keeper. He received the Golden Glove award for his 22 clean sheets last season, the most of any League Two goalkeeper, which in turn earned him a place in the PFA League Two Team of the Year.
In addition, he was voted Player of the Year by the club’s supporters and Sky Sports named him in their own team of the year for conceding only 34 goals and saving 77.2 per cent of shots saved, both league highs.
But Hladký said: "I know what people are saying but I don’t feel like a penalty expert. I am just someone who prepares as well as I can for every game and that includes knowing as much as possible about the opponents, who takes the penalties and how does he take them.
"I want to know everything that will improve my chances of saving a penalty. It can happen that you don’t save any of 10 penalties but then you save three in a row.
"It’s not only about preparation; it’s also about luck and other things as well. I don’t face a lot of penalties in training. There is no special time dedicated to penalties but it can happen from time to time.
"But, of course last season was special for me. Actually, I don’t just want to say last season because I felt very confident about how I played in the last three seasons but, yes, last season was special because we had to play without crowds because of Covid-19 and that made it very different to the others.
"I was pleased to receive several awards but the last three seasons were really good for me.”
He was only with Salford for one season but if gave him an opportunity to realise one of his football dreams. Growing up in the Czech Republic, he was a big fan of English football and remembered the Manchester United players — the Class of 92 — who became owners of Salford and set about raising the club’s profile and ambition.
Hladký said: "Gary Neville is the main man at Salford and he is working on a daily basis for the club. He is interested in everything and making it better. Paul Scholes was our manager for four games and the other guys — Ryan Giggs, Nicky Butt and Phil Neville — all attended our home games regularly when they could.
"They were all people I had seen on television and admired 100 per cent. It was a brilliant experience to meet these guys and when you do it gives you a special feeling.
"I was a young boy who watched them all winning the Champions League, the Premier League and the FA Cup, so to meet them and shake hands with them was something really, really special for me.”
Hladký also took time out to praise teammate Macauley Bonne, Town’s on-loan QPR striker and joint top goalscorer in League One alongside Cole Stockton of Morecambe on nine goals.
"We are so happy to have him in our squad and for him to be playing so well,” said the Czech. "He is in great form at the moment and scores in every game.
"It gives us great confidence because we know we can trust him to take chances and put the ball in the net. It is also good for me to be able to test myself against the top goalscorer in the league when we are training.”
Finally, Hladký reflected on his time north of the border with St Mirren and admitted he loved the lifestyle, adding: "I lived in Glasgow and that was another great experience for my wife and me. We will never forget how great a time we had there. Living in Scotland was an excellent experience.
"We were very happy there. It’s a really, really nice country and place to live. Okay, the weather can be very cold in the winter but we received a very warm welcome. The people, also, were very nice and helpful.
"It was a dream for both my wife and I to go abroad and try a different culture, and our time in Scotland was very enjoyable.
"But I didn’t like the food and definitely not the drink Irn Bru. I’m not a big fan of British cuisine, to tell you the truth. You have to eat properly and there is too much fried food here, which is not for me.”