Exclusive: The Ipswich penalty shootout hero hopes to cause yet another significant upset in the rescheduled third-round Carabao Cup match.
“It felt great that night, but it’s over now. I had to let go and go forward. Owen Goodman is thinking back on the thrilling shootout from last month, in which he helped League Two’s AFC Wimbledon eliminate Premier League Ipswich from the Carabao Cup by saving two penalties.
It was the most well-known event of his loan stint so far. The 20-year-old has been crucial to Wimbledon’s early success since leaving his childhood team, Crystal Palace, to pursue regular playing time.
“I think this loan will decide a lot for me,” Goodman tells Standard Sport from Wimbledon’s New Malden training ground. “I’ve had a really good start. I’ve set myself targets. Come 5pm after the last game, Grimsby away, I want to sit down and think: ‘Tick, tick, tick — I have achieved those things.'” The Dons will put their faith in him again on Tuesday when they visit Newcastle in the third round. Originally scheduled for last week, it was rescheduled to St James’ Park due to flooding causing sinkholes to ruin the pitch at Wimbledon’s Plough Lane. The crowdfunder has been halted.
“The big thing for me is I want promotion on my CV. I want the club to go up and I think the club deserves to go up. We need to keep this unbelievable start going. We’re in really good form and need to continue it.”
Wimbledon has played six league games thus far, winning four and drawing one. They are optimistic that they can continue pushing for promotion this year, especially as League Two now offers more fair play after the promotion of both the wealthy Wrexham and Stockport.
Goodman spent last season on loan at relegation-threatened Colchester. They stayed up in League Two, but the former Canada and England youth international is embracing life at a club pushing at the other end of the table.
“I’m in a good environment around really good people,” he says. “The big thing for me is I get to stay [living] at home. I still live with my dad and my little brother. I love them to bits, so being with them as long as possible is what I want. It keeps me happy.”
Goodman, who also had other League Two sides courting him this summer, is following in the footsteps of the likes of Aaron Ramsdale, who spent 2019 on loan at Wimbledon and two years later made his senior England debut.
