Jaros’ “unbelievable” mentality hailed as Liam Millar edges closer to play-off spot

April 5, 2021
Joanna Durkan

Liverpool’s 19-year-old goalkeeper Vitezslav Jaros continues to impress with St Patrick’s Athletic, keeping his second successive clean sheet in another solid outing.

The 19-year-old made the switch to the Irish Premier Division in February in search of valuable senior football, and so far it has paid off.

Jaros played his third league game in succession for St Pat’s on Saturday and played a key role in keeping Bohemians off the scoresheet with his safe hands and quick reaction time off his line.

The youngster was tested throughout in various game situations and stood up to the task as one of St Pat’s top performers, providing the foundations for his team to score the winner just after the hour mark.

The 1-0 victory moves St Pat’s to joint-top of the table with seven points and after Jaros made a blunder in his last performance, manager Stephen O’Donnell lauded his mentality to strike back.

“His mentality was unbelievable. It didn’t knock a budge out of him and for a player to have a mentality like that so young is brilliant,” O’Donnell said.

“That is why clubs want to send young players on loan, to get that experience and be hit with a little bit of adversity that you wouldn’t get in U-23 leagues. It’s a great learning experience for him.”

Elsewhere, Blackburn were unable to end their five-game run without a win in the Championship as they suffered a narrow 1-0 defeat at the hands of Wycombe, despite Harvey Elliott‘s creative output.

The 18-year-old had the most key passes (4) of any player on the pitch throughout his 72-minute outing, but his teammates were unable to convert and his influence would wane in the second half.

It was a similar story for Harry Wilson, who created the joint-most chances (4) alongside Cardiff teammate Josh Murphy, only to see his side fall to a 1-0 defeat against Nottingham Forest.

The Welshman was the Bluebirds’ spark, forcing Forest into fouls and moving his side up the pitch as he returned from international duty with a spring in his step.

But his withdrawal in the 71st minute saw Cardiff lose impetus despite Sheyi Ojo‘s injection for the final stages, with James Garner’s first-half goal enough to hand Mick McCarthy’s side a setback in their promotion hopes.

Sepp van den Berg, on the other hand, remained an ever-present at right-back for Preston and while he was exposed at times against Championship leaders Norwich, his effort and work rate went unquestioned.

The Dutchman helped hold the Canaries to a 1-1 draw and crucially was not afraid to throw his body into the contest.

In League One, meanwhile, Adam Lewis and Liam Millar found themselves on the winning side as Plymouth and Charlton emerged as 1-0 victors respectively over Wimbledon and Doncaster.

The former made his seventh league start and his third in a row, featuring at left-back, while Millar’s return from international duty with Canada saw him come off the bench for the final 25 minutes as Charlton moved to within one point of the play-off spots.