Latics keeper fears no one after City miracle

CHRISTIAN WALTON is among a select band of players this season.

The Wigan keeper is one of only three men – along with Wolves’ Will Norris and Crystal Palace’s Wayne Hennessey – to have stopped Manchester City in their tracks by keeping a clean sheet against the Premier League champions-elect.

“It was probably one of the best nights of my life,” said Walton of last month’s FA Cup fifth-round shock, which ended City’s hopes of a quadruple and booked tomorrow’s quarter-final at home to Southampton. “It was unbelievable. We were probably the biggest underdogs ever. We ®Êby CHRIS McKENNA the cup in 2013. “It is obviously my job,” he said. “You don’t get the chance to score the winning goal as a keeper but you get a nice little buzz when you make a great save.” Walton always wanted to be a keeper from the moment he started playing as an eight-year-old in Wadebridge, Cornwall. The 22-year-old grew up idolising Chelsea legend and now Arsenal keeper Petr Cech as well as former Manchester United shot-stopper Edwin van der Sar. The Latics star would often make a 520-mile round trip to Stamford Bridge to watch Cech with his father. “I wouldn’t say I was a massive Chelsea fan, I used to follow them and I’d go with my dad and his best mate,” he added. “I used to get up as much as I could. It was good to go and watch when I was younger.

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“It helps you a lot watching football when you’re young, you take so much in and learn from it. I like to think I learned from watching Cech and others.” Walton came through Plymouth’s centre of excellence before being snapped up by Brighton as a 17-year-old. He has a long-term contract with the Premier League side and hopes to become their No.1 in the future. League One Wigan’s run to the last eight of the FA Cup has not done his chances any harm after beating top flight Bournemouth, West Ham and City along the way. And Walton said: “At the start of the year I looked at a squad full of quality players for the division, but a cup run is a bonus and it will only help my development, playing against these top teams. “We have beaten three Premier League teams, so we don’t have anything to fear on Sunday, we can just enjoy it. “We don’t talk about Wigan winning the cup in 2013 but it is in the back of everyone’s minds.”