Town goalkeeper Vaclav Hladky says he is not focusing on the league table following a 1-1 draw at Huddersfield Town which took the Blues top, but admitted it is nice to be at the right end of the Championship standings.
Brandon Williams’s first goal for the club ensured Town ended September unbeaten and at the top of the second-tier – albeit potentially only temporarily – as the Manchester United loanee’s late diving header cancelled out Delano Burgzorg’s opener at the John Smith’s Stadium.
Hladky, who made a number of impressive saves, was keen to praise the team’s resilience after the Blues came from behind to extend their away unbeaten league run to a club record 14 matches.
"We never gave up and if I can help the team by saving some chances then we’re always thinking about the win,” he said. "We are a strong team and it’s tough to play against us as we always create chances.
"At the end of the day, [Lee] Nicholls made a great save as well, but we’re always thinking about winning. You could see that with the last 10-15 minutes, even when we equalised we tried to push more and win the game.
"It was a tough one, but sometimes it’s like that away from home. It was the first home game for their new manager [Darren Moore] so it was expected, and we tried to deal with it.
"When you help the team, you’re always proud and always pleased, but that’s part of my job. At the end of the day, we equalised and that’s some more credit for those saves.”
Perhaps Hladky’s most impressive stop was to deny Jack Rudoni just a few minutes before Williams’s leveller, a chance that would likely have killed the game off for the hosts had the Czech custodian not denied the Terriers midfielder.
On that particular save, Hladky said: "I think it was just good positioning, a bit of luck obviously. I tried to spread myself as much as I could and it hit my foot. I think it was a good save, then we got a chance to equalise and we took it.”
On the goal conceded, he added: "It was a tough one through the legs of a defender, so it’s always a bit harsh. But we’re in a good position now, we never give up and that was the case again today. We take a point.”
Leicester City will reclaim top spot in the table if they avoid defeat against Blackburn Rovers at Sunday lunchtime [The Foxes won 3-1 to return to the summit], but Hladky is focused on enjoying the moment and putting full attention on the games ahead.
"We know where we are,” he said. "But we’re not looking at the table and thinking ‘wow, look where we are, they lost, they won etc’. We know we’re towards the top, but we just want to enjoy it and keep working hard.
"Obviously we hear it from the fans but we don’t really look at the table at the moment because the Leicester game is tomorrow [Sunday], there’s no attention about where we are in the table. We just try and pick up the points and we got one today.”
Hladky is currently in his debut Championship campaign having been largely a substitute throughout his Town career since arriving from Salford City in 2021.
Having notched up four clean in nine league appearances this season, the 32-year-old was asked whether he considered himself to be in the best form of his career.
"It’s hard to say,” the former Czech youth international considered. "It’s the best level I’ve ever played, but the season at Salford I kept 24 clean sheets and I won the Golden Glove, so it was a great season for me.
"The main thing is to show the great form at the best level you possibly can. So it’s hard to say, but when you keep playing like that at the top level, that’s something you can be proud of.
"I’m always trying to improve step-by-step in my career and that was the main reason to come down to England and try to reach the best level I possibly can.”
With a return for Christian Walton on the horizon following his plantar fascia tear in pre-season, Hladky is fully aware there is stiff competition for the number one shirt, but ultimately accepts that decision is for Kieran McKenna to assess in the coming weeks.
He said: "I’ve been enjoying myself since the season started and I just want to keep going. It’s not a question for me, it’s up to the manager. I’m just trying to do my job as best as I can.”
Recently, the Blues’ home fixtures have been goal-fests while matches on the road have seen fewer goals and have generally been tighter affairs.
When asked to pinpoint why that may be the case, Hladky said: "I don’t really know. When you’re going away from home you expect the pressure from the crowd and from the opponent, so maybe we focus more on the defence and trying to keep a clean sheet.
"The home games at the moment are a bit crazy, we’re trying to push as hard as we can and score a lot of goals. But that’s something we need to improve as we can’t concede too many goals in front of our crowd.”
Hladky was also asked about Petr Cech, a goalkeeping and Czech Republic legend who no doubt is an idol for many a Czech goalkeeper. The Town glovesman revealed he is no exception.
"He was [a hero],” he said. "We were, at some point, in one agency. He was the man I look up to, he did a great job and is obviously one of the best keepers in the history of the Premier League. Not just for me but all the people in the Czech Republic can be proud we’ve got somebody like Petr Cech.”