Brave Jay Rodriguez will be given new lease of life by late penalty, says West Brom boss Alan Pardew

The £12m summer signing stepped up to take an 89th minute spot-kick - Albion's first for more than 50 games - at The Hawthorns yesterday.

And he kept his nerve in front of the Birmingham Road End to give the Baggies a well-deserved point against the Gunners.

"It was great for Jay and brave of him to take that penalty because his performance was outstanding," said Pardew. "He just lacks that spark that makes him special. That goal will hopefully give him a new lease of life."

Albion were given a soft penalty when Kieran Gibbs struck the ball into Callum Chambers's arm from two yards away, and Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger was spitting feathers after the match.

"I’d be very upset if it was given against me," admitted Pardew. "It was a tough penalty. Obviously the ball has hit his arm.

"We’re all a little it in the dark about what is a hand ball and what isn’t. Intentional or unintentional, I don’t know.

"Listen, I can understand Arsene being very angry about that. But we deserved it.

"We’ve had three or four games here where we’ve not had a break at all.

"Today we went toe-to-toe with Arsenal at times.

"Not all the time, but enough times to take them on with attacking intent.

"Hal and Jay down the sides. It was good for me to see. The messages are getting through.

"It was nice to go into the dressing room and say ‘if you keep doing the right things, you’ll get a break’. And we did get a break."

Pardew was particularly pleased to keep pace with those teams above the Baggies after some other results didn't go Albion's way over the weekend.

"There was a lot of pressure on us today," he said. "Bottom of the league, a lot of the teams around the bottom won. We had to get something today.

"We had to deal with the pressure and fair play to the players they did.

"It would have been really tough for our fans to have seen the team put that commitment in, drinking on New Year’s Eve on the back of a defeat.

"So I'm really pleased for them that we got something for them to enjoy if only for a little while. A nice gin and tonic."