Kharda atones for penalty miss

by Matt Pole Brighton & Hove Albion loanee Reda Khadra was delighted to make up for his midweek penalty miss by firing home Blackburn Rovers’ winner against QPR on Saturday.

The former Borussia Dortmund forward slotted home a free kick with 13 minutes to go to hand Rovers their first win in five games.

The 20-year-old’s strike also ended Blackburn’s nine-hour wait for a goal and lifted Tony Mowbray’s side above fellow Championship promotion contenders QPR into fourth.

Khadra’s heroics at the weekend atoned for a decisive miss in Rovers’ game at Sheffield United on Wednesday.

The German was denied from the penalty spot by keeper Wes Foderingham as the Blades ran out 1-0 winners.

Khadra said he was desperate to ‘give something back’ to his Blackburn teammates after his miss at Bramall Lane.

The Seagulls young gun also hailed Rovers captain Darragh Lenihan for giving him the confidence to bounce back against QPR.

Speaking to RoversTV, Khadra said: “I missed the penalty against Sheffield United and then I score the winner a few days later.

“I’m really proud of the team. I wanted to score to give something back to everyone because we played well against Sheffield United, we needed to win it but I missed the penalty.

“Darragh spoke to me before the game and at half-time about me being confident from set-pieces. It’s a nice feeling to have good lads like Darragh in our team.

“Missing penalties happens to the best players in the world and I’ve been encouraged to just keep going, to forget about what’s happened in the past and to keep my head up.

“You’re going to think about a missed penalty for a bit, for one or two days.

“But the next game comes soon after, it’s the next challenge and the next opportunity to be the hero.”