Steve Bruce was understandably grateful for his goalkeeper. He told the club's official website: "He's an outstanding goalkeeper and you've seen tonight he's been a bit restricted because of his back.
"Certainly since I've come to the club he's produced save after save for us and he's a very, very good goalkeeper that's for sure.
"The big problem that Chris finds is that if he's sitting or travelling for long periods then he stiffens up and it's not ideal. But we hope we can get it fixed."
Hopefully the performance will not have escaped Fabio Capello's radar as Kirkland aims to push David James all the way for the England number 1 shirt.
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