Brice Samba has delivered a comical Nottingham Forest verdict after Dean Henderson emulated the former goalkeeper last night.
The on-loan Manchester United man saved penalties from Ruben Neves and Joe Hodge as the Reds beat Wolves 4-3 in a shootout.
Forest had drawn 1-1 with their Premier League rivals, with Raul Jimenez cancelling out Willy Boly’s first-half goal.
A penalty shootout with the kicks taking place at the Bridgford End sparked memories from May.
The Reds faced Sheffield United in the play-off semi-final and on that occasion, the stakes were far higher.
Samba saved three penalties that night, including one from Morgan Gibbs-White who made amends for that by scoring against Wolves.
His secret on that occasion was fascinating. He was given a new water bottle before the shootout, with a list of names and where they typically put their penalties.
Samba duly obliged and managed to save a hat-trick of spot-kicks in May, etching his name into Forest folklore.
Last night, Henderson took a page out of Samba’s playbook and kept a water bottle hidden in his towel.
It paid dividends once again as a Forest goalkeeper again proved himself as the hero of the hour.
Samba has delivered a comical verdict after Henderson stars
The Congolese stopper will be forever remembered as a top character when he was at the City Ground.
Without him last year, the Reds would likely still be playing in the Championship and for that he deserves credit.
Now, the goalkeeper is playing exceptionally well for Lens in France and they’re firmly in a title race.
Henderson’s remit at Forest is to simply help the club remain in the Premier League and last night meant so much to him.
Plenty have compared the on-loan United man to Samba. That does seem somewhat unfair, with the two possessing different qualities.
One thing that is for sure is that Forest are very lucky to have Henderson and he could be pivotal in the quest to avoid relegation.