It was a break from the norm for West Bromwich Albion today as we visited Premier League side Brighton and Hove Albion in the fourth round of the FA Cup.
Heading to the Amex Stadium it was a much changed side for head coach Darren Moore, and although it’s fair to say the hosts dominated the match – 24 chances overall with seven on target compared to our six overall and two on target – a strong defensive showing saw us keep the clean sheet and take a scoreless draw on the day to secure a replay back at The Hawthorns.
"They can all feel really proud of the performance they have put in today."
Plenty of praise from the boss for our Academy graduates who starred in this afternoon's draw at Brighton… 💬
Watch Darren's full interview now over at https://t.co/CZ5IBrutPq #WBA pic.twitter.com/T6v4ZFCHfd
— West Bromwich Albion (@WBA) January 26, 2019
With both sides hitting the woodwork, with a far more youthful feel to the side, Moore will no doubt be pleased to have a second bite of the cherry as we should benefit from some players getting the rest and others getting valuable match minutes into them.
Speaking to the BBC following the final whistle, Moore said of the match.
“I am extremely proud, we had seven academy graduates in the squad today, and there might have been five on the pitch at the end. They put in some extremely good performances today, and it was a performance that suggests they are maturing. It’s a credit to them and the academy system at the club. It was excellent from an educational point of view, and I am very pleased with their performances. A draw was a fair result – it was a pulsating tie and the atmosphere was good but we could not break the deadlock. We will take the replay, we will keep our own form going. We set our stall out, I’m pleased with the work-rate off the ball but we caused them problems. I was really proud.”