Carlos Carvalhal: Sheffield Wednesday boss defends Jordan Rhodes after penalty opt out
Last updated on .From the section Football
Sheffield Wednesday boss Carlos Carvalhal has defended striker Jordan Rhodes for not taking a penalty in his side's Championship play-off semi-final defeat by Huddersfield.
The Owls lost 4-3 on penalties after the tie finished 1-1 on aggregate, with Sam Hutchinson and Fernando Forestieri seeing efforts saved by Danny Ward.
"He said he did not feel confident," Carvalhal told BBC Radio Sheffield.
"The worst thing I could have done was force him to take one."
The 51-year-old added: "It would have been a big mistake to make him take one. It's one of the worst things you can do to a player.
"The five players who took them were the ones who had practised them best and said that they wanted to take them."
Rhodes, who has scored 175 league goals in his career, is on loan at the Owls from Middlesbrough before joining for a fee believed to be around £10m in the summer.
He has scored three goals in 20 appearances for the club and had a penalty saved in their 1-0 defeat by Leeds in February.
Carvalhal 'has no problems' about future
Defeat on Wednesday at Hillsborough means the Owls have failed to secure promotion through the play-offs for the second successive campaign. Last season they lost 1-0 to Hull City in the final at Wembley.
Owner Dejphon Chansiri said he wanted promotion in two years when he took over in March 2015 and there has been speculation that he intended to sack Carvalhal if the Owls failed to go up this season.
However, the Portuguese said nothing has been decided about his future.
"In the club there are two people who make decisions: the chairman and me," he said.
"I will have some time back home and then I will sit down with the chairman next week. I like the club and I have a good relationship with the chairman. I have no problems here. We will see what is decided."
