Alan Pardew promises to make sure his West Brom players never argue over penalties again
Alan Pardew will 'have words' with his strike force in the week to make sure everyone is on the same page when Albion are awarded a penalty.
Hal Robson-Kanu duffed a tame spot-kick straight at Christy Pym in today's 2-0 victory over League Two Exeter City in the FA Cup third round.
Bizarrely, Robson-Kanu stepped up after Jay Rodriguez and Salomon Rondon had initially had an argument over who should take the penalty.
Albion were 2-0 up at the time, but the miss nearly proved costly because the hosts went down the other end and hit the post two minutes later.
And Pardew has warned his team they will not get away with errors like that in the Premier League.
"The penalty didn't affect the game but it could have," admitted Pardew. "There were a couple of moments there that we will have to make sure never happen again.
"There will be words this week, in the nicest possible way. It was a shame because we played so well and to have that negativity over the penalty miss was not ideal.
"Nearly conceding moments later. That fine detail is what the Premier League is all about. We cannot afford to make any mistake on the detail."
When Pardew was asked who should have taken the penalty, he said: "I am not going to tell you. Hal's a striker, he should still score."
Rodriguez scored a penalty against Arsenal on New Year's Eve, and went to take today's spot kick but was then accosted by Rondon.
Both strikers had already scored, and so they agreed to give it Robson-Kanu, who didn't get on the score sheet.
Albion were nearly made to pay for their calamitous indecision moments later when Ben Foster spilled a deflected cross at Jayden Stockley's feet but the Exeter top scorer hit the post from two yards out.
"That is the FA Cup, that was it in that two minutes of football," said Pardew. "We miss a penalty, they go up the other end and a rare mistake and they could have got a goal right on the stroke of half-time.
"It was fortunate for us that it hit the post but also it served as a warning to us at half-time, to really focus for the 90 minutes because it could turn and not be as comfortable as it should have been."
Earlier on in an eventful first half, left-back Kieran Gibbs was forced off with a muscle strain, but Pardew is optimistic it won't keep him out for long.
"He said he felt a strain, we'll have to see," said the Baggies boss. "With the past injuries he's had, he's nervous when he feels strains.
"Let's hope it's not too serious, I don't think it is. He's been great for me so hopefully he'll be ok."
