Elliott Ward: Penalty miss was worst moment of my career

By Andy Walker on Oct 14, 08 09:53 AM in News

COVENTRY CITY'S Elliott Ward has described last weekend's spot-kick blunder as the most embarrassing moment of his career.

The Sky Blues centre-back is usually seen as Chris Coleman's tried and tested penalty taker but last Saturday against Southampton it went horribly wrong for the Londoner.

Rather than opting for his usual style of smashing the ball into the net at full force, Ward attempted a cheeky chip that was akin to ex-Villa star Dwight Yorke.

The ex-West Ham man was left red-faced as the weak effort landed straight in the hands of Saints keeper Kelvin Davis, although he avoided a full ear-bashing from Coleman as Coventry chalked up a 4-1 win.

The Welsh boss did, however, bizarrely describe Ward as being a bit "dingly-dangly" and the stopper admits that it's a moment that will live long in his memory for all the wrong reasons.

"I knew what I was going to do before the penalty but, to be fair, once the goalkeeper stood up for that long it did throw me a bit," said Ward, 23.

"It was something that I wanted to try and it didn't come off so I've put it behind me now. If a penalty like that comes off you look good, if it doesn't you look like a div.

"That's what happens in football if you don't try new things then they won't come off. I've put it behind me already and I'm looking forward to the next one.

"I didn't get inspiration from anybody, I just thought I needed to change it.

"I've tried both sides but hadn't tried the middle so I decided on the Friday and unfortunately it didn't go well.

"I know for a fact the lads didn't see it coming because I didn't tell anyone, they were more shocked than anything.

"We can maybe laugh about it because we won 4-1 but it could have been more serious.

"That is the most embarrassing thing that has happened to me on a football field. It's something I can take on the chin but it's an incident that will stick out for a long while."