The Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper has turned his season around in the space of a couple of weeks to put his nightmare in Madrid firmly behind him
It has taken true mental strength for young Tottenham goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky to drag himself back from humiliation to all-round praise in the space of two months.
On the night of March 10 in Madrid, just three days before his 23rd birthday, Kinsky had a nightmare on the difficult Metropolitano pitch, conceding three Atletico goals within 16 minutes and gifting the home side the ball on two of those occasions. To compound matters, interim Spurs boss Igor Tudor hauled the young goalkeeper off a minute later as everybody watched on.
The Czech stopper's Tottenham career was widely deemed to be done, his confidence surely broken with a move out of the club expected this summer.
Then Spurs' first choice goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario needed to have hernia surgery and two months on from that evening in Spain all eyes turned back to Kinsky as he was needed. New head coach Roberto De Zerbi fully backed him and solid performances against Sunderland and Brighton culminated in a spectacular display at Wolves.
In the second half Kinsky rushed out to deny Adam Armstrong and bail out Kevin Danso after an under-hit back pass and the goalkeeper saved the best for last with a full length stop to push away Joao Gomes' free-kick deep into added time to ensure the three points headed back to the capital.
"He deserves this day, because he played very well," said De Zerbi after the match. "Especially today, he was crucial for the result. He deserves everything, because he's a good guy, he's a good keeper. Especially after Madrid, he deserves one day like today."
Now Kinsky has spoken for the first time since that night at Atletico and his remarkable late save at Molineux.
"Of course I am happy because this was an important moment for us, an important game and it was five games until the end [of the season]. We know that every game we need to get the points you know as much as possible, so of course we did it and got the three points. We want to continue this in the next games," he explained before coolly describing his last-gasp moment as simply part of the job.
"For the save, I am happy for that because it was a good moment at the end of the game. Yeah, I just stayed calm and did what I am supposed to do."
FOLLOW OUR TOTTENHAM FB PAGE! Latest Spurs news, analysis and much more via our dedicated Facebook page
The Czech explained what Tottenham did well at Wolves on Sunday to give themselves a fighting chance in the relegation battle.
"Even though OK, you are more on the ball, you know that any time there can be some break and some dangerous situation. I think it is more about keeping balanced, being focused on the offensive part of the game if you have the ball 70 per cent or something like this and then at the back being compact and ready for any counter," Kinsky told Canal+. "I think we did it well and especially in the first half. Second half could be better and I think these are the things we can take into the next game."
Spurs lie two points behind 17th-placed West Ham and travel back up to the Midlands to face Aston Villa on Sunday evening in the Premier League.
"The determination is huge. We feel that we want it, the fans want it, everyone is behind us and we will do everything we can," said Kinsky. "Of course we got ourselves into this situation which we don’t want to be, but I believe we are doing the right things to get out and I believe we have the qualities to get out.
"Determination is the right mindset I would say with the confidence. It has to be balanced no matter what the situation is, especially on the pitch during the game."