Tom Heaton has backed Senne Lammens to come back stronger from his World Cup nightmare. The Manchester United third-choice goalkeeper reached out to Lammens after Belgium's tournament ended in the quarter-finals against Spain.
Heaton's support for Lammens
Heaton believes the 24-year-old United No.1 will be stronger for his mistake, which saw him spill a Pau Cubarsi shot into the path of Mikel Merino, handing Spain an 88th-minute winner. Lammens was making his World Cup debut, winning his third cap as a second-half substitute for the injured Thibaut Courtois.
"I spoke to him. He's obviously off on a break now, a much-needed break, I think a long World Cup," said Heaton. "It was obviously a challenging moment for him, but I think that's the life of a goalkeeper. As soon as you put the gloves on and go between the sticks, you have to be ready to deal with that. He certainly is. I actually think he'll be stronger for it. I think his personality is fantastic for a goalkeeper, so no issues there. It's obviously disappointing for him but, as I say, I do honestly think it can help him in the long run."
Lammens' first season at United
Lammens enjoyed an outstanding first season at United after his £18.2 million move from Royal Antwerp, cementing his status as first choice at Old Trafford. He made only one major blunder in his first season, when a poor pass out led to Liverpool scoring at Old Trafford, but he shrugged that mistake off.
Heaton, who has had a long Premier League career and won three caps for England, is confident Lammens can deal with the highs and lows of the role. "I think you're trying to avoid it from preying on your mind," he said. "Everyone's different, so everyone deals with it differently, but I think, from my point of view, goalkeeping is a position where something goes wrong, it's going to end in a goal, and goals can change games and cause you to lose, so you have to understand that and be sort of realistic with that. But I think it's certainly tough but his personality is suited for it. He's very strong mentally and he'll be absolutely fine."
Heaton's own career and Vitek's potential
Heaton signed a new deal this summer to extend his second spell at United into a fifth season. He played the first 45 minutes of pre-season as United lost 1-0 to Wrexham in Helsinki. He was replaced in the second half by Radek Vitek, but the 22-year-old is set to leave the club this summer in search of first-team football.
"He's had a really, really good season last year at Bristol City," said Heaton of Vitek. "I do rate him highly. I think he's probably ready for the next step up. Whether that's fighting at the top of the Championship, or maybe getting into the Premier League and keeping that development going, really. But he's certainly got an awful lot of potential, real good personality for a goalkeeper. He's assertive, strong in his mind and I think that's held him in good stead over the last couple of years."
