Roberto Di Matteo revealed he couldn’t have asked for any more from his players following Albion’s third successive victory. The Baggies battled to a 1-0 victory following a goal from the recalled Simon Cox in the 66th minute. The visitors could, and probably should have, extended their advantage in the 83rd minute when Graham Dorrans saw his penalty saved after Luke Moore had been felled.
After Wednesday night’s dramatic 3-2 victory over Blackpool, Di Matteo made four changes to the starting line up with Gonzalo Jara, Jonas Olsson, Marek Cech and Robert Koren replaced with Gianni Zuiverloon, Joe Mattock, Abdoulaye Meite and Simon Cox.
The decision paid off for the Baggies’ boss with Cox scoring his ninth goal of the season following Roman Bednar’s good work. However he did admit the boggy Home Park pitch made the game an unsightly spectacle at times.
"I was aware of the pitch and became even more so when a mature woman in our hotel lift told me that the pitch is 'really bad'! the Italian said.
"I thought 'even a lady like her knows that'!
"I have to say, unfortunately, she was right.
"It was a difficult pitch to play football on.
"We adapted well and we are very pleased with the three points.
"We couldn't have asked for more.
"The way we had to win was tough.
"We had to battle, fight and adapt to difficult circumstances.
"It wasn't easy to play today and Blackpool's pitch wasn't great, either.
"We tried to play, but you could see how the ball was bobbling.
"It was very difficult.
"But we showed today we can fight AND play.
"We're pleased with three successive wins.
"But this league just keeps going on and on, so you can't really enjoy a win.
"Tomorrow morning, we will already have to focus on Tuesday's game against Scunthorpe.
"It's like a marathon."
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