Simon Eastwood: Oxford United FA Cup penalty save hero happy analyst kept quiet

Simon Eastwood stopped Aleksandar Mitrovic's penalty with the score at 1-0

Oxford United goalkeeper Simon Eastwood was relieved the club's analyst chose not to speak to him before his FA Cup penalty save against Newcastle United.

Eastwood stopped an Aleksandar Mitrovic spot-kick in Oxford's impressive 3-0 fourth round win with the game at 1-0.

"He (the analyst) told me after the game that Mitrovic had gone the other way with his two previous penalties," Eastwood told BBC Radio Oxford.

"If he'd told me that before, I'd have definitely dived the wrong way."

Former Blackburn goalkeeper Eastwood put in a man of the match performance as League One club Oxford outfought their Championship opponents.

He denied striker Mitrovic with two smart one-on-one saves in the first half before diving low to his right to thwart the Serbia international from the spot.

"Sometimes it's just about trusting your instincts with a penalty," Eastwood added, after Oxford progressed to the last 16 for the first time since 1994.

But manager Michael Appleton, who has signed Eastwood three times in his career, chose to take some of the credit for the penalty save himself.

"I keep telling him in training to stand still and just wait for the player to actually kick it and place it," he said.

"I'm a believer that if you go once it's been hit and it's not within a couple of inches of the post, you can get there."