Pardew anticipates thrilling tie

Two of the sides with designs on Barclays Premier League football next season meet in the FA Cup third round today – but Charlton manager Alan Pardew hopes his side’s clash with West Brom is a one-off engagement.

Both sides have been focusing on securing a return to the top flight this year but will take a day off from the promotion race at The Valley.

And while Pardew is looking forward to an intense match, he hopes the tie is decided one way or the other on the day – rendering the distraction of a replay unnecessary.

He told the club’s official website, www.cafc.co.uk: “Both myself and Tony Mowbray will be desperate that this game isn’t a draw.

“We have a tough enough programme as it is, so with that in mind, if it’s 1-1 at 83 minutes, I think both teams will be going for it. It will make for an exciting contest.”

Pardew, the former West Ham chief, also praised the quality of a side he feels play some of the best football in the division.

“West Brom have a big, deep squad with very good players, and their movement and passing is as good as ours, if not better,” he added.

“They threaten goals, Kevin Phillips is in great form, the boy (Ishmael) Miller on loan is a handful. The two wide players deliver well into the box, so there is a lot of offensive quality, and in all honesty I can’t see it being 0-0.”

West Brom go into the match having started the January transfer at a brisk pace, with Sherjill MacDonald making his loan move from Apeldoorn permanent for a fee of £200,000 and Shelton Martis going on loan to Championship side Scunthorpe.

MacDonald will be looking to repay Mowbray’s faith after the Baggies boss gave him a ringing endorsement.

“Talent is hard to come by and when you have got someone with the ability Sherjill has to beat an individual in a one-on-one situation, we shouldn’t be discarding him,” said Mowbray.

“Sherjill has got talent and potential. We need to work with that, develop it and hopefully make him a big asset for our football club.”