Dickov praises brilliant Ben

WELL DONE, MATE . . . Athletic winger Filipe Morais is mobbed by his team-mates after his first-half goal at Walsall last night.

ATHLETIC boss Paul Dickov heaped praise on goalkeeper Ben Amos following last night’s 1-1 draw at Walsall.

Filipe Morais gave Athletic the lead against the run of play in the first half, but they were indebted to on-loan Manchester United ace Amos, who pulled off a number of important saves to earn his side a point.

Amos could do nothing about Darryl Westlake’s equalising goal on what Dickov described as a slightly disappointing night for the visitors.

“We knew they would come flying out of the blocks – they are fighting for their lives, said Dickov.

“We were 1-0 up at half-time when Walsall were probably the better team.

“We know Ben (Amos) is quality and that is why we brought him in.

“Ben is a top ’keeper – Sir Alex Ferguson doesn’t play goalkeepers like that in Champions League games if he doesn’t rate them.

“And though Walsall scored in the second half, I felt we were the better side after half-time.

“Some of our passing when we got the ball down was excellent and we created a few chances.

“All in all, it was probably a fair result.

“I was a bit disappointed with the overall performance, because we know we are better than that.

“But on a Tuesday night away from home, coming to a hard place like this, sometimes you have to take a point.”