West Ham: Nuno Espirito Santo reveals Finlay Herrick plan after keeper handed shock FA Cup debut | OneFootball

Young shot-stopper was thrown in at the deep end as he replaced injury-stricken Alphonse Areola late on and immediately faced a penalty shootout

Nuno Espirito Santo said West Ham have plans in place to help Finlay Herrick become a first-team regular after the goalkeeper made a shock debut against Leeds in the FA Cup.

But the Frenchman picked up an apparent calf injury in the dying moments and the 20-year-old Herrick, the fourth-choice keeper preferred to Mads Hermansen on the bench, was thrown on to make his senior debut moments before the shootout got underway.

Herrick did well to save from Joel Piroe, but was upstaged by seasoned Brazil international Lucas Perri, who secured victory for Leeds by stopping spot-kicks from both Jarrod Bowen and Pablo Felipe.

Finlay Herrick saved Joel Piroe’s spot-kick in the FA Cup quarter-final shootout

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West Ham’s goalkeeper union has been under scrutiny for much of this season, with both Areola and Hermansen struggling to stake a claim as No1, and speaking at full-time, Nuno suggested there could be a route into first-team contention for Herrick.

"He is a young goalkeeper with talent, he played for England in the youth,” explained the Portuguese. “We have a project to try and help him to become what we expect from a good goalkeeper that can help us.”

He continued, adding he was disappointed to fall short after West Ham rallied late on to force extra-time.

“It is sad the way it ended because in the second half and in extra-time we created chances that could have stopped it going to penalties. It's sad, it's tough.

“We saw from the fans what it meant to us to try and reach Wembley but it wasn't to be so we have to rest in the best way we can and react for the next one.

“We can never give up. The game is not done until the referee says so and we have to take that into our future starting on Friday.”

West Ham last played an FA Cup semi-final in 2006, but now face something of a relegation six-pointer as they visit Wolves in the Premier League, knowin ga win could lift them out of the drop zone.

“It will take more time to recover,” said Nuno on preparing for the Midlands club’s visit.

“The legs go when you win and recover quicker. We have the sadness and that will drag into this evening and tomorrow but we have to react.

“We have important games so we will keep fighting.”