Pardew RESTED players against Stevenage, just as he did against Brighton last year! I don't doubt for one second he was down to the bones on Saturday ... but where was the fight?
Alan Pardew: “You have to understand this is a competition that I love and want to put my best team out.
“Every time the cup fixture comes out, we are depleted.
“We were depleted at Stevenage, depleted at Brighton last year and even more depleted this year.
“That is the weakest team I’ve had to pick from in terms of player experience and top-quality players.”
"Youngsters like Paul Dummett, Mehdi Abeid, James Tavernier and Sammy Ameobi were all fielded at Brighton.
"We have to be honest enough and say that side should not have been representing us in the third round of the FA Cup.
“That’s where we were.
“We had no Coloccini and no Papiss due to strains. I couldn’t risk them. The only one that I kept out of my side was Marveaux.
“We wanted to get to 60 or 70 minutes and create a moment when he will be fresh. He will create a moment like he almost did at the end.
“The younger players gave everything they could, but they should be in our development team – not our first team.
“I thought we had inconsistencies from the players because they are young.
“Sammy Ameobi did some good things but some naïve things. Bigi and Anita were great.”