Walsall manager Michael Flynn is relishing the prospect of hosting Leicester in the fourth round after Andy Williams’ nerveless 95th-minute penalty took the League Two club past division rivals Stockport.
Paddy Madden looked to have rescued a replay for the Hatters in the 88th minute after Danny Johnson’s opener for Walsall. But deep in added time, Madden brought down Liam Kinsella in the penalty area and Williams made no mistake.
‘I’m over the moon, Leicester are a magnificent club and Brendan Rodgers is a fantastic manager,’ said Flynn, who beat Leicester in the third round in 2019 as Newport manager. ‘It’ll be a real pleasure for me to go up against him in a game that will hopefully be picked for television.
Walsall boss Michael Flynn is looking forward to hosting Leicester City after beating Stockport
‘I managed to create some fantastic FA Cup memories during my time with Newport, so hopefully we can go on and create a few more.’
Walsall will be aiming to equal their best-ever FA Cup run by reaching the fifth round, which they have done six times — most recently in 2003.
Flynn was also full of praise for 36-year-old hero of the hour Williams.
Andy Williams scored the crucial stoppage time penalty which won the tie for the visitors
‘It was a fantastic penalty,’ said Flynn. ‘I’m just glad we had Andy on the pitch for it. He’s a really cool customer in situations like that, he’s been there and done it all before.
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‘That penalty will probably go a long way to paying the rest of his contract, so well done to him for that.’
Elsewhere, Blackburn spoiled David Wagner’s first match in charge of Norwich as Jack Vale’s first senior goal ended Rovers’ five-year FA Cup hoodoo.
Blackburn ended a five-year bad luck run in the FA Cup by beating Norwich at Carrow Road
Former Huddersfield and Schalke boss Wagner was in the dugout at Carrow Road after being appointed as Dean Smith’s successor on Friday and saw his side dominate the match, only to concede a soft goal to Vale just past the half-hour mark.
Skipper Grant Hanley left a routine backpass to Tim Krul short and when the ball broke to Bradley Dack, he set up Vale to score and seal a first FA Cup victory for the club since December 2017.
Rovers boss Jon Dahl Tomasson, who also led his side to the EFL Cup fourth round this season, said: ‘I thought it was a brilliant win for us. There will be bumps along the way but we are slowly moving in the right direction. It would be great to have another cup run.’
Rovers boss Jon Dahl Tomasson said it was a ‘brilliant win’ to take them into the Fourth Round
Paul Warne’s strong run at Derby continued as they swept aside fellow League One promotion-chasers Barnsley with a 3-0 win at Pride Park. James Collins’ penalty put the hosts in front before Tom Barkhuizen and Jason Knight added to the lead in the second half. But Warne was worried by a poor first half.
‘I don’t think the scoreline flattered us, however, it is a good warning sign,’ he said. ‘It’s always great to win and learn, and what I think we’ve learnt in the dressing room was we were just a little bit complacent in our start.’
Derby County boss Paul Warne oversaw their 3-0 home victory over Championship Barnsley
Swansea boss Russell Martin rued his side’s failure to capitalise on a ‘brilliant’ first half after they drew 1-1 at fellow Championship side Bristol City.
Antoine Semenyo’s header cancelled out Joel Piroe’s opener and Martin said: ‘The boys were in a bit of a rush at times and there was a lack of quality. We spoke at half-time about the need to retain the same intensity. But Bristol changed shape, threw caution to the wind, and we didn’t play with enough aggression to hold on.
‘We didn’t have the tools to kill the game off and ended up conceding a really soft goal.’
Swansea’s manager Russell Martin rued his side conceding a soft goal in draw with Bristol City