Wilfried Zaha will not hesitate to be put on the spot again

Wilfried Zaha will not shirk spot-kick responsibilities despite missing a penalty as Crystal Palace drew at Norwich.

The Ivory Coast international had equalised with a fine, curling effort to cancel out Teemu Pukki’s 39-second opener for the home side.

But the game would finish 1-1 as Zaha wasted the chance to claim all three points, horribly scuffing a spot-kick just minutes after his individual strike.

It was the first time Zaha has missed a Premier League penalty, having scored on his four previous attempts.

But that will not stop the 29-year-old from stepping up again as he insisted his confidence from 12 yards remains.

“As I ran up I felt my left foot slip as I went to stand before shooting,” he told Palace TV

“As soon as I felt it go, I thought: ‘This is definitely not going to go where I want it to’.

“You’ve just got to get over it. In football you haven’t got time to cry about it. I was asked if I got another pen whether I would stand up and take it – 100 per cent.

“I’ve got the confidence to go up and take it, and I’ve just got to make sure I score next time.”

Zaha, back in action for Palace for the first time since Boxing Day following his stint at the Africa Cup of Nations, was also in no doubt that the visitors deserved to leave Norfolk on Wednesday night with all three points.

“I’m happy I can score for the team, but it is one of my best ones,” he said of his goal.

“It’s very frustrating because we feel like we’ve been here too many times. I feel like we’re good enough to win these games, and we should have won.

“Obviously me missing the penalty hurts even more because I feel like I could have won it for us. It’s a frustrating day, but we need to learn from this and put teams to bed.”

Norwich needed to win to move back out of the relegation zone and could not have wished for a better start as Pukki ended an 11-and-a-half hour goal drought to put the Canaries in front in the first minute.

Dean Smith’s side have started to show more resolve and have lost just one of their last six games in all competitions.

Pukki admitted after the draw that a share of the spoils was the most Norwich deserved as they prepare to welcome league leaders Manchester City on Saturday evening.

“I think we can be happy with the point, especially how the game went,” he said.

“Of course, going in the lead and then losing it, it’s always a bit disappointing but they were better than us today so we can be happy with the point.

“We know Man City are one of the best teams in the world. So it will not be easy, but we need to go into every game with three points in our head.

“It doesn’t matter who we play. We know it will be a tough afternoon and we need to be at our very best to get something out of it.”