I am happy – Antonin Kinsky could not have dreamed of a better Tottenham debut | OneFootball

New Tottenham goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky confessed his debut in a 1-0 Carabao Cup victory over Liverpool was beyond his wildest dreams.

Kinsky only completed a permanent transfer to Spurs on Sunday from Slavia Prague, yet was handed a high-profile debut by Ange Postecoglou on Wednesday and starred to give his new club a slender semi-final first-leg advantage.

The 21-year-old made two key saves to deny Liverpool substitute Darwin Nunez in the second half, either side of Lucas Bergvall’s 86th-minute winner, before he embraced his sister in the stand at full-time after Tottenham held on for a precious triumph.

“Yeah, I would say a win against Liverpool, in the semi-final of Carabao, one to zero with a clean sheet, it is a good start,” Kinsky smiled.

“I am a big dreamer but still with the legs on the ground. Probably this dream I didn’t have so far, so I am so happy to experience this.

“I am so happy that my family were here and they saw it. I am happy for them.”

While Kinsky had played 29 times for Slavia Prague this season and kept 14 clean sheets, it was a big decision for Postecoglou to immediately put his new addition behind a makeshift defence ahead of veteran Fraser Forster and Brandon Austin, who impressed against Newcastle on Saturday.

It paid dividends, though, with Kinsky’s composure in possession noticeablly better than his fellow keepers with the Czech Republic youth international more than happy to play out from the back.

Kinsky reserved praise for Tottenham goalkeeping coach Rob Burch when he reflected on a dream debut.

Yeah, first half I would say is so-so but in the second half I felt confident and this is the way I want to play later on.

Antonin Kinsky

He told SpursPlay: “I like to play a lot. I would say with confidence, but I don’t like to risk. I still think there is a difference between playing smart, playing with confidence and playing with risk.

“I arrive three days ago. I had two trainings, one full with the team and one with the goalkeeper coach, so I was slowly getting to know the pace.

“Yeah, first half I would say is so-so but in the second half I felt confident and this is the way I want to play later on.

“I have to say the boys helped me a lot in the game because they wanted to play. They were confident as well.

“I also have to mention the coaches, all the staff and especially the goalkeeper coach who spoke to me a lot, who gave me the vision of how the game looked like and how the Premier League and now Carabao looked like.

“It helped me a lot that I had this info and I could work with it.

“I had the luck that I had the chance to save them (shots) and that it wasn’t any top bin or something like this, which happens in the Premier League a lot because I watch it a lot.

“Happy for the whole club because I arrive, big club, so many people involved and everyone is so kind. Everyone helped me so much that I felt confident from the beginning.”

Meanwhile, Tottenham midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur confirmed he was “all good” after he left the pitch on a stretcher following a sixth-minute injury.

Bentancur wrote on his Instagram story: “All good, guys! Thank you for the messages. Congratulations for the victory boys!”