Lambert hails brilliance of Wolves keeper Ikeme

CARL IKEME will avoid watching the Africa Cup of Nations but Nigeria’s loss was Paul Lambert’s gain as the goalkeeper’s brilliance kept Wolves in the Cup. The Nigerian, distraught that his country failed to qualify, produced four world-class saves to douse stoke City’s comeback attempts in a rousing 2-0 derby win. ‘Thank God Nigeria didn’t qualify!’ joked boss Lambert. ‘He was outstanding.’ Goals from Helder Costa and Matt Doherty, after Ikeme had brilliantly repelled Marko Arnautovic, Ibrahim Afellay, Joe Allen and Peter Crouch, saw stoke lose a third-round tie for the first time since 2009.