Ben Garratt will get over penalty mistake quickly says boss

Steve Davis looks likely to stick with his young goalkeeper Ben Garratt for the visit of Shrewsbury this weekend. The England Youth International had a steady game in difficult weather conditions against Coventry, but he did end up conceding a penalty in the 2-2 draw after rushing from his line to bring down Callum Wilson.

The Alex boss was pleased with the way the 19-year-old dealt with the set-back and with Alan Martin struggling with illness and Steve Phillips ruled out with shoulder injury, Garratt is likely to start only his fourth senior game at Gresty Road this weekend.

Steve told crewealex.net: “I thought Ben was fouled at the corner for Coventry’s first goal. It isn’t that easy to see it at the time but when you watch it back, you can see that his arms are around his body.

“The referee missed it but like I’ve said it wasn’t too easy to see it and it created the space for the lad to come in and head it from close range. We should have marked a bit better there and it was a disappointing goal to concede, especially as we had the lead.

“Ben then has rushed from his line and caught Wilson. He has to learn from that and learn from it quickly. He conceded a similar penalty against Wycombe in the FA Cup and that is the harsh reality of football.

“All the young players go through it and I thought that he responded well in the game after conceding the penalty.

He added: “Nick Powell was sent off against Shrewsbury and was left out for months and I remember when Ash (Westwood) played full-back against Port Vale and struggled but he came again and got his move. So it can happen.”