Following the conclusion of the March international break, West Bromwich Albion were back in action yesterday evening as caretaker gaffer Jimmy Shan continued to lead us into derby action against Birmingham City at The Hawthorns.
Given Shan’s impressive record since replacing Darren Moore, the Board continue to bank on him for ‘promotion or bust’ justification as they drag their feet on a proper decision, but last night was about the football.
It didn’t start well as the visitors took the lead seven minutes in, but Dwight Gayle had us on level terms two minutes into the second half. Birmingham restored their lead just ahead of the hour mark, but the Baggies hit back hard with a Jay Rodriguez penalty and a Jake Livermore effort to make it 3-2 with 16 minutes remaining in the game.
Despite a massive amount of stoppage-time, West Brom being under the cosh and escaping a penalty decision against us, we held on for the win to take all three points.
Speaking to the BBC following the full time whistle, Shan said of the final result.
“I’m happy to keep going game by game. The players are very professional and are very comfortable with it. It’s not been that different to my previous first-team role but now I’m just making more key decisions. I’ve felt quite comfortable with it and the lads’ response has been excellent. We showed great resilience and character, but the group have had that throughout the season. We know they are a big threat with Lukas Jutkiewicz up front and Che Adams playing off him. But we were with it better in the second half and it was a fantastic finish by Jake Livermore that won it. A great connection worthy of being a winning goal.”