Chris Hughton has backed striker Nikola Zigic to bounce back following his costly penalty miss in Birmingham's 1-0 Europa League defeat against Braga.
Blues boss backs his decision to start with Zigic over King
Chris Hughton has backed striker Nikola Zigic to bounce back following his costly penalty miss in Birmingham's 1-0 Europa League defeat against Braga.
With regular penalty taker Marlon King on the bench, the 6ft 8in Serb could only watch as Braga stopper Quim parry away his poorly struck spot kick just 11 minutes into the encounter at Estadio Municipal de Braga.
And the Blues were made to pay the penalty for not taking their opportunity, despite a dominant opening to the game as Hugo Viana's deflected strike won the game for the Portuguese outfit to put them through to the next round of the competition.
The midlands club must now defeat bottom side Maribor at St Andrew's and hope Braga, who have now sealed their progression into the last 32, beat Brugge in Belgium if they hope to progress.
But Hughton was quick to defend his decision to start with Zigic, after opting to leave King - who scored from the spot in the club's previous Group H clash against Club Brugge to secure a 2-2 draw - on the substitutes bench.
"If it wasn't Nikola who took it then it would have been someone else," Hughton said.
"If Marlon had been on the pitch there's no guarantee he would have scored.
"Nikola's a good striker of the ball and you just hope when you get that situation that he scores, unfortunately for us he didn't."
Meanwhile, midfielder Keith Fahey has backed Zigic to respond in the right way.
"Ziggy's taken it, he's confident enough to take it but unfortunately the keeper saved it," the Republic of Ireland international said.
"He's missed a couple of chances lately but he showed his character on Saturday (against Blackpool), missing a couple and then popping up to get the equaliser.
"So he'll bounce back."
