Heidelberg United head coach John Kyrgios has moved to praise backup goalkeeper Zaira Douglas after a heavy 5-0 defeat to South Melbourne on Saturday, claiming there’s plenty of upside for his young charge.
The former Bundoora goalkeeper has been called into action following regular starter Alice Ryan’s finger injury in Round 1, conceding six goals in two games.
“I think Zaira’s done quite well, though there’s quite a bit of work to be done,” Kyrgios said.
“We’ll always concede goals, I’ve been a goalkeeper all my life; you know that sometimes you lose the easy ones and make good saves for the ones which should have gone in.”
While the Heidelberg goalkeeper looked solid as the game began, that veneer of confidence began to crack as goals started to go in.
An ugly scoop out for a corner from a regulation save was something she would have wanted to forget about in the first half, though a penalty conceded from a defender’s handball certainly did not help matters.
“She’s a young keeper, she’s just come into the team,” Kyrgios said.
“She hasn’t been with us for very long so we’ll need to give her a bit of confidence and that’s what I’ll be doing.
“We’ll work on some basics, overhead stuff and down low from what I saw today, and she’ll definitely come good in the end.”