BILIC: CHILL OUT BOYS

Birthday boy Austin gets Albion off to a flyer, then has to sweat when Tigers won’t gift-wrap win

SLAVEN BILIC told his promotionchasing West Brom side they have to handle the pressure better after a rollercoaster win over Hull.

Victory put Albion a point behind leaders Leeds, but the Baggies boss says his side must learn to relax more.

Bilic (right) said: “It was frantic. We have to relax in a positive way because the pressure of being up there is only going to get bigger and bigger.

“We felt the pressure more than we should have done today.

“We coped with it well enough because we won, but we have to learn to cope with it even better.

“We were always in the lead or level for a few minutes. That should relax us, but it didn’t. Today was a game to enjoy.”

Hull manager Grant McCann, whose side are just one point above the drop zone, said: “I think some of the goals were unacceptable. It’s a shame because in an attacking sense we were excellent.”

Bilic added: “All the pressure is on us and Leeds. The others are hoping. But we have to cope with it and we wouldn’t swap places with any of them.

“Hull put us under pressure with a simple way of playing – long ball, second ball, quick attacks.

“So, on that basis, I wasn’t happy. At times we played with fear.”

And McCann added: “We’ve worked hard on attacking set-pieces. We’re seeing the benefits of that.

“The work has gone in and we’re looking better defending and attacking set plays.” £30 £4.99

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Austin Stewart Hegazy Wilks Grosicki Diangana

WEST BROM striker Charlie Austin had a very happy 31st birthday – eventually.

It was not supposed to be quite like this, with Albion having to fight like hell to get the win which puts them within a point of leaders Leeds and five points ahead of third place Brentford.

Austin could hardly have wished for a better gift on his big day than to fire the Baggies into a lead after just four minutes.

But he was made to sweat a while after deflecting the ball into his own net to put struggling Hull back on level terms.

Austin’s opener was a real dyed-in-the -wool striker’s goal. He killed Matheus Pereira’s drilled cross with his chest and then poked the ball into the roof of the net a split-second before keeper George

Long could intervene.

That should have been the start of a procession for the home side, who were threatening to give the Tigers a mauling in the early stages.

But someone forgot to tell Hull the script and when Slaven Bilic’s men started to wobble a bit, it was the visitors who began causing a problem or two.

It was something of a surprise coming from a team whose record since the turn of the year has been little short of catastrophic. Hull beat Middlesbrough on Thursday to end a run of 13 games without a win stretching back to New Year’s Day – a spell which brought them only three points.

Josh Magennis fired a warning shot with a header that Ahmed Hegazi had to boot off the line in the 15th minute and then Hull managed to go one better and get themselves level.

George Honeyman’s corner caused keeper Sam Johnstone all sorts of problems and when his weak punch failed to clear the box, Kevin Stewart drilled the ball low and hard and it flew into the net off Austin. Hegazi restored West Brom’s lead going into the break with a powerful header when Pereira found him from a corner to the near post, but that

Referee: Oliver Langford was snuffed out three minutes into the second half when Mallik Wilks scored a fine goal with a bullet header.

The Tigers were level for just 76 seconds. A brilliant searching ball from Pereira split Hull’s back line and sent Kamil Grosicki racing towards goal. He made no mistake with a clinical finish.

Such a slim lead was never going to be enough for Bilic (below) and his men to feel comfortable and Johnstone was forced to pull off a tremendous save to keep out a Jon Toral shot.

Albion were desperately in need of a bit of magic to put themselves beyond reach and substitute Grady Diangana provided it, cutting past three opponents before drilling a low shot in off the inside of a post.

That was enough to finish off Hull, and Hegazi’s injury-time dismissal for a second yellow card made no difference to the outcome.

WEST BROM:

HULL:

MOTM

MATTHEUS PEREIRA (WEST BROM)