Mark Noble has admitted refusing David Moyes' call to take the penalty in Manchester United's 2-1 win at the London Stadium would have "haunted [him] for life."
His manager called upon the West Ham captain in the 93rd minute after Luke Shaw was adjudged to have handled inside his box, and referee Martin Atkinson ruled for a penalty. Noble stepped up to take the penalty despite established penalty taker Declan Rice still on the field, which the in-form David de Gea brilliantly saved .
That save marked the first penalty that the Spanish international has stopped since 2016, conceding the last 40 he has faced.
And the ordinarily reliable Noble has commented on the first spot-kick he has missed in over five years.
"It would have been lovely in my last season to have scored so, obviously, missing hurt," Noble told the Evening Standard.
"The thing I take out of it was that if the manager had asked me and I'd had said 'No', that I didn't want to take it… I can live with missing, that's not a problem with me, but would I have been able to live with saying no and sitting there and watching somebody else take it, not knowing 'What if'?
"That would have haunted me for the rest of my life, so I take a bit of strength out of that."
Noble could get a shot at redemption on Wednesday evening as the Hammers make the trip north to face United in the Carabao Cup. Having barely featured in the league in the early stages of the season, Noble is expected to start the match alongside new signing Alex Kral at the heart of midfield.
"I'm sure that the boss will make some changes [against Manchester United] because of the games coming up and the amount of games the international boys have played already, so we'll see what team he picks," he added.
"It's a great away day at Old Trafford for the fans to come and enjoy it."
