Wilson Isidor spells out his future penalty-taking plans with Sunderland
WILSON ISIDOR wants to continue taking penalties for Sunderland despite his recent spot-kick failings against Burnley.
Isidor failed to convert two penalties in the Black Cats’ goalless draw at Turf Moor, with James Trafford keeping out both of the striker’s efforts from 12 yards.
The French forward was distraught as he left the field at Burnley, and claimed the experience was the ‘worst of his life’.
However, Regis Le Bris claimed he was happy for Isidor to continue to take spot-kicks, and now that the dust has settled, the 24-year-old insists he is also willing to remain on penalty duty.
“Will I take the penalties in the future? Of course,” said Isidor. “In my career, I will continue to take penalties. That is not going to change.
“I showed character at the time, but my team-mates also pushed me. When the second penalty came, they said, ‘You are going to take it’. I wanted to take it, they pushed me, but I missed, that’s life.
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“I am sure I will miss again in my life, but I am also sure that I will score a lot too. I am not frustrated about that. It is an event that is behind me now, and I am focused on the future.”
Le Bris backed Isidor in the immediate aftermath of the game at Burnley, and has subsequently continued to throw his weight behind Sunderland’s leading scorer.
Retaining the faith of his head coach meant a lot to Isidor, who was also delighted with the support he received from his team-mates in the dressing room at Turf Moor.
“The coach and me have a really good relationship,” said Isidor. “He is pushing me every day to progress and get better. He is a very good coach, and he helped me a lot with what happened after Burnley.
“All the staff helped, as well as all the players also. They were pushing me to react quick and forget what happened in the past. That’s it.”
Isidor scored his ninth goal of the season as Sunderland drew with Plymouth at the weekend, but any personal satisfaction at finding the net was tempered by the collective disappointment of failing to take all three points.
“We just didn’t show enough character,” said the striker. “When you play against the team at the bottom of the ranking, you should be more aggressive and more efficient. We didn’t do that.
“I really hope the group are going to react in the next game. We have the players, the coach and the quality to be able to do that. We just need to react now, to show that we really want to go up.”
