Proud Henrik Pedersen saluted Sheffield Wednesday’s youngsters after Pierce Charles produced two penalty shootout saves to earn a thrilling Carabao Cup first-round win over 10-man Bolton.
The Owls went ahead on three occasions through Gui Siqueira, Ike Ugbo and Reece Johnson, but were forced to spot-kicks when Trotters’ substitute Amario Cozier-Duberry made in 3-3 in stoppage time.
“There was a strong culture because they stayed together and kept on going,” said manager Pedersen, who named five teenagers in his largely unrecognisable starting line-up.
“This belief and their confidence I liked to see. Big respect to them.
“The other aspect was to see how happy the senior players were to see how happy the young players were. They were very tired at the end but they kept on going.”
Bolton boss Steven Schumacher, who lost defender Sam Inwood to a 27th-minute red card before Jordi Osei-Tutu and Thierry Gale both grabbed equalisers, insisted: “There were loads of positives.
“We competed with 10 men for two thirds of the game and did well, created lots of chances and scored three good goals. But we also conceded some poor goals so loads to learn from.”
Liam Palmer scored the winning penalty to book a second-round home tie with Leeds after Charles kept out efforts from Aaron Morley and Max Conway.
