Ryan Hardie admitted he had been annoyed to be left out of Plymouth Argyle's team against West Bromwich Albion at Home Park on Saturday but the striker responded in the best possible way by scoring twice as a second half substitute to clinch a 2-1 win.

First, Hardie equalised with a calmly converted penalty and then he came up with a fine angled finish in the 88th minute which was enough for the Pilgrims to secure just their fifth victory of the Championship campaign.

On his absence from the starting line-up, Hardie said: "I was very frustrated. To say I was annoyed was a bit of an under-statement but, listen, if you don't get annoyed at decisions like that you are not going to be a footballer and you are not going to do well at the highest level.

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"Friday is a disappointing day but you know you are going to be a game changer, you are going to be needed and obviously when I came on I made a positive impact."

West Brom were leading 1-0 when referee Dean Whitestone awarded a penalty to Argyle for handball against Callum Styles after he blocked a shot from Hardie, who then slotted home from the spot.

The visitors were angry at the decision but Hardie said: "Well, if he wasn't in the way it was going top corner! Listen, we needed them bits of luck, we haven't had them the last few months.

"I hit the shot and you have got to claim. The referee sees it, it's a split second decision so I don't think you can moan too much. Some go for you and some go against you. Thankfully it came for us."

Hardie faced competition over who was going to take the penalty while his former Argyle team-mate, West Brom goalkeeper Alex Palmer, also tried to play some mind games with him.

"I was trying to fend off two of my team-mates trying to get the ball off me, they were wanting the pen as well," he said. "Obviously, I know what my capabilities are, I'm good at penalties. I practice every single day. I made sure I got the ball and nobody was getting it off me.

"Alex was giving it a bit because we have played with each other. He was saying 'We have practiced in training, I know where you are going'. It's a bit of a mind game, penalties, and thankfully I came out on the right side of it."

Hardie's winning goal came when he ran onto a defence-splitting pass from Tymoteusz Puchacz. The striker had a first shot blocked but his second attempt beat Palmer and went just inside the far post.

"That's the type of goals you are probably used to seeing me scoring, getting on the end of them through balls and scoring," said the 27-year-old. "It has managed to just get away from me slightly but I got the shot off inside and when your luck is in your luck is in. The ball came back to me and I managed to put it away in the far post."

Home Park exploded into noise in the closing stages of game as Argyle returned to winning ways there for the first time since they beat Portsmouth 1-0 on November 5.l

Hardie said: "This is what this place is like when you are winning games. When we needed a little bit of help after we conceded, the crowd lifted us. It was incredible.

"After the penalty I think there was only one team going to win it. You saw that after we got the second goal, it has not been like that here in a while. It was brilliant."

Argyle remained at the bottom of the Championship after the win against play-off hopefuls West Brom but it allowed them to close the gap on the teams above them in the table.

Hardie said: "We need to just focus on our jobs. February is going to be a big month for us. There is five games coming up so it's going to be all about playing and recovering, and hopefully getting more days like this."

He continued: "That's the old Argyle that we are used to. When we went behind maybe last season or the season before we knew we were going to get back into the game. We were always confident.

"Conceding the goal (against West Brom) was a bit of a bummer but we knew we were going to get some chances and get back in the game. I think getting that feeling back, the mentality back we are still going to get chances and we are going to get back in the game is something we need to drill into each other and remain positive."

Among many positives to come out of the victory over West Brom were impressive debuts for Argyle's two new defensive recruits, Nikola Katic and Maksym Talovierov.

Hardie said: "They were brilliant. I think every one did their job to a man but having them in there you saw the solidarity we had. They won everything that came up, took no chances. They have been a good two additions."

Argyle now have a clear week ahead of them to not only prepare for their Emirates FA Cup fourth round tie against Premier League leaders Liverpool at Home Park on Sunday, but also to continue to work on what recently-appointed head coach Miron Muslic wants to see from his side.

Hardie said: "The week before (West Brom) was the first time we have had a week with the new manager for him to implement some things that he wants. We used it to work hard and I think this week will be no different.

"We are just going to use it to get used to his style of play, get used to the way he wants to press, the way he wants to defend and ultimately the way we want to transition. I think this week will be important, not just for the cup but for the league coming up as well."

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