Alan Irvine defended his substitutions yesterday and claimed his changes almost grabbed Albion a point against Arsenal during the Baggies 1-0 defeat.
Irvine’s decision to substitute Stephane Sessegnon for Georgios Samaras was met with a chorus of taunts from Albion fans.
The Baggies struggled to create any meaningful changes against Arsenal and took 75 minutes to register an effort on target.
After Danny Welbeck’s goal on the hour mark, the closest Albion came to equalising was a late header from Saido Berahino – which cannoned back off the crossbar.
“People have their own opinions but in actual fact it very nearly worked,” said Irvine.
“We really looked as if we might score when perhaps we didn’t look like we might score too many times prior to the changes.
“It very nearly worked and had it done perhaps people would have had a different judgement at the end.
“We certainly got close to getting something.
“We were committing a lot of men forward and we put Arsenal under a lot of pressure at the end.
“I felt we started the game well and Arsenal looked a threat on the counter-attack in the opening 15 or 20 minutes but we lost that control and they gained control.
“We started the second half OK, there was a big decision early in the second half which could have made a difference and then the goal gave us a lot to do.
“We nearly got something out of the game in the end in that last 15 or 20 minutes.
“We had Arsenal very much on the back foot, we hit the bar, we’ve had a number of shots that have been blocked and some resulted in corners, so we may have got something out of it in the end.
“That’s two weeks in a row now – two big decisions that have been wrong against us.
“People make mistakes but we could do without them because it doesn’t half make the job against teams like Chelsea and Arsenal an awful lot more difficult and everybody knows how crucial the first goal is.
“Saido had found himself in a very similar position to the one he found himself in against Manchester United and you fancy him when he gets into that position.
“Again, it was bitterly disappointing.”
Was Irvine right with his substitutions? Have your say at Baggies Banter.