Spot-kick debate ahead of Boro’s Johnstone’s Paint Trophy winner against MK Dons

Filipe Morais says he was going to allow Luke Freeman to take the penalty that won the match against MK Dons on Tuesday evening – until a call from the bench told him to step up instead.

The Portuguese winger, making his first start for the club since asking Graham Westley for a move away from the Lamex in August, was back to his best in a Boro shirt, and in addition to causing the visitors all sorts of problems with his direct running he stepped up to fire home the winning goal after Francois Zoko had been bundled over in the box awaiting his cross.

Speaking after the match, Morais said: “I was happy to let Luke [Freeman] have it but we had a shout from the bench for me to take it.

“I felt a bit bad on Luke because he really, really wanted it, I was happy to let him have it [but] I’d take it all day, It’s another goal, it looks great on the stats. Sometimes in pens you have to take them when you really don’t deserve getting a goal but I felt I put a little bit into that one [with the cross].

“Personally I just feel confident on penalties. I don’t think I’ll ever miss a penalty to be honest because I just don’t understand how you miss a penalty.

“You’re too close, you just wait until the keeper dives and hit it the other way.”