Exeter vs West Brom: Alan Pardew praying for another FA Cup boost

As a player, he scored an extra-time winner for Crystal Palace in their famous 4-3 semi-final victory over Liverpool.

As a manager, he returned to the final with West Ham in 2006 and Palace in 2016, only to fall just short on each occasion.

“I have come close to winning it,” he said. “I’ve always loved it but that love comes from my earlier playing days actually, when I was a non-league player at Dulwich Hamlet and Corinthian Casuals trying to draw a League team – it was just amazing.

“We played Bristol City in the first round once when I was at Corinthian Casuals and it was amazing – you just can’t overstate the impact that has on non-league teams, in terms of the finance it brings in and the excitement it gives an individual player.

“So that has always been in me, and now in the professional game it’s stayed with me in a different kind of form.”

Pardew is at the other end of the spectrum now, managing a top-tier club who, considering their struggles over the past 10 months, could be vulnerable to an upset away at League Two Exeter City.

Thanks to building work at St James Park, just 350 Albion fans have tickets to the match.

Pardew will not risk Matt Phillips, who pulled up with a tweaked hamstring in the warm-up at West Ham, or Craig Dawson, whose ‘fatigue levels are very high’ after three successive games following his return from injury.

But he has promised to put out a strong team in order to get that elusive victory over the line.

And he’s also had a quiet word with Kane Wilson and Kyle Edwards, two Albion youngsters who spent the first half of the season loan at Exeter, to get an idea of how they play.

“They don’t probably give you the answers you’d like,” said Pardew. “‘Yeah, we’re 4-4-2 gaffer and we bang it down the side of the pitch!’

“It’s not too educated but you get a general feel of the mood. Exeter are in a good place and in a good position in the league.

“I know some of their players actually – I’ve managed two or three of them such as Lee Holmes (at Southampton) who has come close to being a top player. The standard of player there is good.”

Pardew still hasn’t won a game with the Baggies, who have now gone 21 games in all competitions without tasting victory, but he hopes a Cup win can kick-start their season.

“There’s pressure on us to win any game there’s no doubt about that,” he said. “But less pressure to a degree in this competition. It doesn’t affect our league position.

“For us it will be something to build on and gain momentum from. I don’t think it’s going to relieve the pressure of winning in the Premier League.

“But it’s important we win and get into the fourth round and create some kind of excitement for our fans, some kind of hope for them. We’ve got 350 fans going there and we need to deliver for them.”