James Morrison hailed West Brom’s new arrivals after they showed their character to help the Baggies grind out a 1-0 victory over Derby County and move top of the Championship table.
Aune Heggebo’s first-half strike proved decisive at Pride Park, but West Brom had to dig deep after debutant Brayann Pereira was sent off before half-time.
Despite being reduced to 10 men, Morrison’s side defended resolutely to secure a valuable three points — and the head coach was quick to praise the way his new players have settled into the squad.
“I felt it from day one really, after last season to now, it’s a credit to the lads and the new lads coming in and fitting in really well,” Morrison told the press after the midweek match.
Under pressure
The Baggies were under pressure early on but took the lead in the 16th minute when Jimmy-Jay Morgan sent a low cross into the box and Heggebo finished smartly at the near post.
However, their task became much tougher when Pereira was shown a second yellow card in the 34th minute following a reckless challenge on Charlie Taylor.
West Brom were forced to defend for long periods after the break, with Derby looking to make their numerical advantage count.
Lars-Jorgen Salvesen came close in the 68th minute when he headed over from just eight yards, but the visitors continued to throw themselves in front of everything Derby could produce.
Morrison admitted his side had made life difficult for themselves early on, but was delighted with the response once they were down to 10 men.
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Poor start
“I thought we were pretty poor for the first 20 or 30 minutes, we caused our own problems really,” he said.
“The sending off summed up our start really, we gave the ball away far too much and the one time we did string some passes together we scored.
“It was important we got to half time and sorted a few things out.”
From there, Morrison watched his side become increasingly difficult to break down.
“We limited them to crosses coming in and heading from 12 yards, we defended the box really well with everyone putting their bodies on the line,” he added.
“That defensive unit of the whole team really when we were low was pretty impressive.”
Defensive heroics
West Brom needed one final moment of defensive heroics in stoppage time.
The ball was knocked beyond goalkeeper Max O’Leary, but Nat Phillips produced a crucial clearance to deny Derby and preserve the clean sheet.
For Morrison, the performance offered further evidence that his new-look squad is developing the resilience required to challenge at the top end of the Championship.
With the new arrivals already making an impact and West Brom sitting at the summit, the head coach will hope their hard-earned victory in midweek can provide further momentum.
“Hopefully that will spur us on,” Morrison said, with the Baggies playing hosts to QPR at The Hawthorns on Saturday, September 12 (kick-off 12.30pm BST).
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