Tom Heaton Sends message to Ten Hag Over Starting in Win over Charlton Athletic

As he targets making more appearances in a Manchester United jersey, Tom Heaton is eager to take any opportunities that come his way.

The experienced goalkeeper, who made his return to the team in 2021 after an 11-year absence, started for the first time this season in Tuesday night’s 3-0 Carabao Cup quarterfinal triumph over Charlton Athletic at Old Trafford. Heaton seized the opportunity to shine when first-choice goalkeeper David de Gea received a rare break, keeping a clean sheet and playing steadily despite Charlton’s second-half push.

Heaton acknowledged the significance of the occasion, telling MUTV that despite the sparse action on the field, “For the past 18 months that I have been back at the club, opportunities have been a little harder to come by. It was disappointing that I was unable to participate in the previous round [against Burnley] since I was suffering from a little injury at the time, and Martin [Dubravka] had obviously participated in the first game [against Aston Villa] and was therefore able to participate in the second game. However, tonight I was fortunate to be wearing a shirt. As I said, I truly enjoyed it and perhaps there will be many more opportunities in the future to make use of them.”

Heaton commended the performance of his defense, especially the center backs Harry Maguire and Lisandro Martinez, who will be battling with newcomer Jack Butland for the second goalkeeping position in the pecking order.

They contributed to restricting Charlton’s onslaught, which made Heaton’s job pretty simple. According to Heaton, there is fierce rivalry among some outstanding players for the center-back spot. “Licha [Martinez] and H [Maguire] and I had a great time together tonight.

Despite playing some tricky opponents, I believed we managed to maintain a close game for the majority of the evening, especially when some big boys entered the game toward the finish. We did an excellent job of handling it, in my opinion, and we gave a really strong performance.”