Burnley head coach Scott Parker defended his goalkeeper Vaclav Hladky after the Czech’s error gifted Reading an equaliser in their FA Cup third-round tie, which the Clarets eventually won 3-1 after extra time.
Lyle Foster had given a much-changed Burnley the lead but League One Reading levelled when Hladky allowed Lewis Wing’s 30-yard shot to squirm through his arms and legs.
The Championship promotion hopefuls would go on to win thanks to two goals from substitute Zian Flemming in the additional period.
“Vaclav is fine,” Parker said. “I addressed it with him after the game, he’s made a mistake and he knows that.
“But the reaction I saw from him after that mistake, the confidence he showed to keep going, just shows the stature of the man.
“It showed every bit of his character, he was superb.
“This is a guy who I’ve got the utmost respect for. He’s an absolute true professional
“Yes, he made a mistake today, but I thought that overall his game brought a calmness and a composure about us.”
Of the win, Parker said: “I thought that we deserved victory overall.
“I made 11 changes but I thought that we applied ourselves first class.
“Players came into the team who have not had a lot of football but we started the game electric and with a real intensity about us.
“Reading got the equaliser, through our mistake, but we then had the other gear to go to and win the game really well.”
Reading manager Noel Hunt praised his battling side for taking Burnley to extra time and felt fatigue played a part in the end.
“I’m very proud of the lads,” Hunt said. “We really pushed a top Championship side with loads of quality.
“We took them all the way to extra time but some tired legs got us in the end.
“We had lot of boys coming back from long-term injuries and also fighting illness this week.
“We had a lot of it in the camp but we tried to keep it quiet.
“Burnley came at us really fast and it took us a bit of time to really believe that we could go toe to toe with them.
“I felt that we could jump into it more aggressively and make it more our game. And we did that really well.
“We don’t want to get beaten. I hate that, it makes me feel sick.
“But from a logical and football point of view, I’m just pleased with how a lot of our players performed today.”
