Pert: I'm Very Happy, Delighted to Get Through Tuesday, 29th Aug 2023 23:20 Blues assistant manager Martyn Pert was delighted to see Town progress to round three of the Carabao Cup for the first time in eight years following their 3-1 on-penalties win at Reading after a 2-2 draw at the Madejski Stadium. The draw for the third round will take place on Wednesday evening live on Sky Sports Football following the Doncaster-Everton tie from around 10.15pm. “I’m very happy, really delighted to get through,” Pert said. “It was exciting in the end. “They obviously scored early and made it a real challenge for us because they worked really hard. “They’re well-organised and worked really hard, didn’t really give us many opportunities through the middle of the pitch, so we had to work the sides and try and create something. “And it was difficult to create lots of chances that were really open because they got so many players in front of the goal. “You’re wondering where you’re going to get the goal from, just keep doing the simple things, keep working the sides and then eventually Omari [Hutchinson] showed a bit of skill. “He’d been coming inside the pitch and I think the lad thought he was going to come inside again, and he showed a good bit of skill. It was a good cross and Cam Humphreys does what he does, good timing and he got the equaliser. “I thought that really helped us going into half-time. We just kept the same message and in the second half we got the other goal, a great pass from Evo [Lee Evans] and Freddie [Ladapo] took it really well. “Unfortunately, I think it is a foul [for Reading’s equaliser], I’ve looked back on it and he’s clipped his heels, but it was a good finish from the lad [Kelvin Ehibhatiomhan] once he got in. George [Edmundson] felt that he was fouled. And then we just stayed positive and take the result through the penalties.” Regarding the Royals’ first goal, which crossed the line after keeper Cieran Slicker palmed it into full debutant Brandon Williams, Pert said: “I think we probably didn’t get the numbers back inside the frame of the goal and allowed the cross to come in in terms of the front area. “And then it was just unfortunate in the box, that’s what happens when the ball gets into the box.” Pert says there was no shortage of players putting their hands up to take the penalties: “Yes, to be fair, they were really positive and all the players were really keen to get their hands on a penalty.” The assistant, who followed manager Kieran McKenna from Manchester United, says players take penalties in training regularly as well as ahead of games such as this one which they know might go to a shoot-out. “We practice penalties before games like this but we also practice penalties during the season on a regular basis when small-sided games are drawn, so the lads get plenty of practice at penalties.” The Blues’ kicks were all decent, even Sone Aluko’s which was saved by keeper Coniah Boyce-Clarke’s trailing leg. “It was a good save, wasn’t it?” Pert reflected. “He’s dived, he’s lifted it and he’s kept his leg up and it was a good save.” Pert is looking forward to finding out who the Blues will play in the next round: “Excited about the draw tomorrow night, looking forward to it, see who we get. You always want to get through, you want to win every game, don’t you?” But he has no particular side he’d like to be paired with: “I don’t really overthink it too much, just see what you get because I think you can always think too much about these things. You get what you get, don’t you? And then you’re excited when it comes through.” Asked whether a cup run can boost Town’s Championship campaign, Pert added: “We’ve got a good squad. We changed the XI today and it gives everyone opportunities to play and gets good minutes. “At the start of the season, it’s very much Saturday-Saturday apart from the cup games, so it gives players the chance to get the minutes, which they’ll need throughout the season, so you always look forward to the cup games.” Pert says Elkan Baggott is fine, despite pulling up sharply in the latter stages of the match. “His calf, it was just cramp,” he said. “It was a bad cramp, but it’s cramp. It looked like someone had shot him, didn’t it? But it was cramp and he’s OK.” Reading manager Ruben Selles was pleased with his team's display despite having fallen to a defeat. “It was a very tough game, but I think we made it a tough game,” he said. “We, as a team, had clear ideas and the boys did an exceptional job and showed what they could do. “At the end, unfortunately, we didn’t get it on penalties. For some of our players it was the first time in professional football that they were under that situation, and we take it as a learning process. Next time we will be even more ready for those situations.”
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